“Upon activation, brain microglial cells release proinflammatory mediators, such as TNFalpha, which may play an important role in eliciting neuroinflammatory processes causing brain damage.
As cannabinoids have been reported to exert anti-inflammatory and neuroprotective actions in the brain, we here examined the effect of both synthetic and endogenous cannabinoids on TNFalpha release elicited by bacterial endotoxin lypopolysaccharide (LPS) in cultured microglia.
In summary, our data indicate that both synthetic and endogenous cannabinoids inhibit LPS-induced release of TNFalpha from microglial cells.
By showing that such effect does not appear to be mediated by either CB receptor type 1 or 2, we provide evidence suggestive of the existence of yet unidentified cannabinoid receptor(s) in brain microglia.”