Monthly Archives: May 2016

[MEDICAL CANNABIS – A SOURCE FOR A NEW TREATMENT FOR AUTOIMMUNE DISEASE?].

Posted on by
Reply

“Medical uses of Cannabis sativa have been known for over 6,000 years. Nowadays, cannabis is mostly known for its psychotropic effects and its ability to relieve pain, even though there is evidence of cannabis use for autoimmune diseases like rheumatoid arthritis centuries ago. The pharmacological therapy in autoimmune diseases is mainly based on immunosuppression of different axes of the immune system while many of the drugs have major side effects. In this review we set out to examine the rule of Cannabis sativa as an immunomodulator and its potential as a new treatment option. In order to examine this subject we will focus on some major autoimmune diseases such as diabetes type I and rheumatoid arthritis.”

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/27215114

The Use of Medical Marijuana in Cancer.

Posted on by
Reply

“The use of medical marijuana in cancer care presents a dilemma for both patients and physicians. The scientific evidence is evolving, yet much of the known information is still insufficient to adequately inform patients as to risks and benefits. In addition, evidence-based dosing and administration information on medical marijuana is lacking. Medical marijuana is now legal, on some level, in 24 states plus the District of Columbia, yet is not legal on the federal level. This review addresses the current state of the research, including potential indications, risks and adverse effects, preliminary data on anticancer effects, as well as legal and quality issues. A summary of the clinical trials underway on medical marijuana in the oncology setting is discussed.”

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/27215434

New therapeutic strategies for the treatment of male lower urinary tract symptoms.

Posted on by
Reply

“Male lower urinary tract symptoms (LUTS) are prevalent in the general population, especially in those of advanced age, and are characterized by notable diversity in etiology and presentation, and have been proven to cause various degrees of impairment on quality of life.

The prostate has traditionally been regarded as the core cause of male LUTS. As a result, medical treatment aims to provide symptomatic relief and effective management of progression of male LUTS due to benign prostatic enlargement.

Anti-inflammatory agents, vitamin D3-receptor analogs, and cannabinoids represent treatment modalities currently under investigation for use in LUTS patients.

Furthermore, luteinizing hormone-releasing hormone antagonists, transient receptor-potential channel blockers, purinergic neurotransmission antagonists, Rho-kinase inhibitors, and inhibitors of endothelin-converting enzymes could have therapeutic potential in LUTS management, but still remain in the experimental setting.

This article reviews new strategies for the medical treatment of male LUTS, which are dictated by the potential role of the bladder and the risk of benign prostatic hyperplasia progression. Moreover, combination treatments and therapies currently under investigation are also presented.”

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/27218069

The effect of cannabinoids on dinitrofluorobenzene-induced experimental asthma in mice.

Posted on by
Reply

“Cannabinoids have anti-inflammatory effects and can produce bronchodilation in the airways.

We have investigated the effects of cannabinoids on tracheal hyperreactivity and airway inflammation in dinitrofluorobenzene (DNFB)-induced experimental non-atopic asthma in mice.

These results show that cannabinoid CB1 receptor agonist can prevent tracheal hyperreactivity to 5-HT in DNFB-induced non-atopic asthma in mice.”

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/27216000

Cannabinoid receptor 2 (CB2) agonists and antagonists: a patent update.

Posted on by
Reply

“Modulation of the CB2 receptor is an interesting approach for pain and inflammation, arthritis, addictions, neuroprotection, and cancer, among other possible therapeutic applications, and is devoid of central side effects.

Structural diversity of CB2 modulator scaffolds characterized the patent literature.

Several CB2 agonists reached clinical Phase II for pain management and inflammation.

Other therapeutic applications need to be explored such as neuroprotection and/or neurodegeneration.”

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/27215781

Anti-inflammatory and antioxidant effects of a combination of cannabidiol and moringin in LPS-stimulated macrophages.

Posted on by
Reply

“Inflammatory response plays an important role in the activation and progress of many debilitating diseases. Natural products, like cannabidiol, a constituent of Cannabis sativa, and moringin, an isothiocyanate obtained from myrosinase-mediated hydrolysis of the glucosinolate precursor glucomoringin present in Moringa oleifera seeds, are well known antioxidants also endowed with anti-inflammatory activity.

This is due to a covalent-based mechanism for ITC, while non-covalent interactions underlie the activity of CBD. Since these two mechanisms are distinct, and the molecular endpoints are potentially complementary, we investigated in a comparative way the protective effect of these compounds alone or in combination on lipopolysaccharide-stimulated murine macrophages.

Our results show that the cannabidiol (5μM) and moringin (5μM) combination outperformed the single constituents that, at this dosage had only a moderate efficacy on inflammatory (Tumor necrosis factor-α, Interleukin-10) and oxidative markers (inducible nitric oxide synthase, nuclear factor erythroid 2-related factor 2, nitrotyrosine). Significant upregulation of Bcl-2 and downregulation of Bax and cleaved caspase-3 was observed in cells treated with cannabidiol-moringin combination.

Treatment with the transient receptor potential vanilloid receptor 1 antagonist was detrimental for the efficacy of cannabidiol, while no effect was elicited by cannabinoid receptor 1 and cannabinoid receptor 2 antagonists. None of these receptors was involved in the activity of moringin.

Taken together, our in vitro results testify the anti-inflammatory, antioxidative, and anti-apoptotic effects of the combination of cannabidiol and moringin.”

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/27215129

[MEDICAL CANNABIS].

Posted on by
Reply

“The cannabis plant has been known to humanity for centuries as a remedy for pain, diarrhea and inflammation.

Current research is inspecting the use of cannabis for many diseases, including multiple sclerosis, epilepsy, dystonia, and chronic pain.

In inflammatory conditions cannabinoids improve pain in rheumatoid arthritis and: pain and diarrhea in Crohn’s disease.

Despite their therapeutic potential, cannabinoids are not free of side effects including psychosis, anxiety, paranoia, dependence and abuse.

Controlled clinical studies investigating the therapeutic potential of cannabis are few and small, whereas pressure for expanding cannabis use is increasing.

Currently, as long as cannabis is classified as an illicit drug and until further controlled studies are performed, the use of medical cannabis should be limited to patients who failed conventional better established treatment.”

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/27215115

Stimulation of brain glucose uptake by cannabinoid CB2 receptors and its therapeutic potential in Alzheimer’s disease

Posted on by
Reply

Cover image

“Brain disorders, including Alzheimer’s disease (AD), often involve specific early alterations in the metabolism of glucose in the brain.

The idea of alleviating symptoms of dementia by boosting cerebral energy metabolism has been toyed with for decades, yet safe pharmacological agents with well characterized mechanism of action are still lacking.

In this sense, we have investigated here the local cerebral glucoregulatory potential of the endocannabinoid system in rodents.

Cannabinoid CB2 receptors (CB2Rs) are emerging as important therapeutic targets in brain disorders that typically involve neurometabolic alterations.

Together, these results reveal a novel general glucoregulatory role for CB2Rs in the brain, raising therapeutic interest in CB2R agonists as nootropic agents.

In conclusion, the present results provide the first direct pharmacological evidence in vitroand in vivo of a role of CB2R in central glucoregulation.

Additionally, we found that glucoregulation by endogenous CB2R signalling is negatively affected by β-amyloidosis, thought to be the first pathological step in AD.

Therefore, it would be interesting to perform further studies to define how CB2R mediated glucoregulation contributes to the recently discovered therapeutic potential of CB2R agonists in animal models of AD”

http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0028390816300879

On the move: Exploring the impact of residential mobility on cannabis use.

Posted on by
Reply

“In this study we utilise multilevel models with longitudinal data to simultaneously estimate between-child and within-child effects in the relationship between residential mobility and cannabis use, allowing us to determine the extent to which cannabis use in adolescence is driven by residential mobility and unobserved confounding.

Our findings suggest that residential mobility in the teenage years does not place children at an increased risk of cannabis use throughout these years.”

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/27211865

Effects of Delta-9-Tetrahydrocannabinol and Cannabidiol on Cisplatin-Induced Neuropathy in Mice.

Posted on by
Reply

“Sativex, a cannabinoid extract with a 1 : 1 ratio of tetrahydocannabinol and cannabidiol, has been shown to alleviate neuropathic pain associated with chemotherapy.

This research examined whether tetrahydocannabinol or cannabidiol alone could attenuate or prevent cisplatin-induced tactile allodynia.

These data demonstrate that each of the major constituents of Sativex alone can achieve analgesic effects against cisplatin neuropathy.”

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/27214593