Marijuana may help prevent Alzheimer’s, but research hits dead end

Posted on April 1, 2014 by David

Gary Wenk: When will researchers be able to follow the science when it comes to marijuana?

“Early use of marijuana might forestall the onset of Alzheimer’s and improve memory in old people, says Gary Wenk, a long-time researcher whose work with marijuana and this disease has come to halt.

“We found out that people who smoked dope in the 1960s were not getting Alzheimer’s,” Wenk said. “These 90-year-olds without dementia were telling us things like, ‘Well, I drank whiskey and smoked dope,’ and these are the things they remember. They don’t remember habits like how often they ate broccoli.”

But lately, due to political, legal and financial reasons, his research progress have come to a halt.

“The evidence in animals is clear but making the leap to humans mean that you have to find a drug company willing to handle the lawsuits and the money,” Wenk said.”

http://blog.seattlepi.com/marijuana/2014/03/02/marijuana-may-prevent-alzheimers-but-research-hits-dead-end/#13130103=0&19612101=0

http://www.thctotalhealthcare.com/category/alzheimers-disease-ad/

Multitarget cannabinoids as novel strategy for Alzheimer disease.

Posted on April 1, 2014 by David

“During the last years the development of approaches to multitarget drug design and discovery is gaining acceptance. The cannabinoids are potentially excellent multi-target drug candidates because of their interesting pharmacological profiles, among which stands out the dual capacity of cannabinoid ligands to act as cannabinoid agonist and cholinesterase inhibitors.”

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/23369066

http://www.thctotalhealthcare.com/category/alzheimers-disease-ad/

Cannabinoids for treatment of Alzheimer’s disease: moving toward the clinic.

Posted on March 19, 2014 by David

“The limited effectiveness of current therapies against Alzheimer’s disease (AD) highlights the need for intensifying research efforts devoted to developing new agents for preventing or retarding the disease process. During the last few years, targeting the endogenous cannabinoid system has emerged as a potential therapeutic approach to treat Alzheimer.

The endocannabinoid system is composed by a number of cannabinoid receptors, including the well-characterized CB1 and CB2 receptors… Several findings indicate that the activation of both CB1 and CB2 receptors by natural or synthetic agonists, at non-psychoactive doses, have beneficial effects in Alzheimer experimental models…

Moreover, endocannabinoid signaling has been demonstrated to modulate numerous concomitant pathological processes, including neuroinflammation, excitotoxicity, mitochondrial dysfunction, and oxidative stress.

The present paper summarizes the main experimental studies demonstrating the polyvalent properties of cannabinoid compounds for the treatment of AD, which together encourage progress toward a clinical trial.”

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/24634659

“Considering the numerous complex pathological mechanisms involved in the progression of AD, treatments targeting a single causal or modifying factor offer limited benefit. Cannabinoids, however, exhibit pleiotropic activity, targeting in parallel several processes that play key roles in AD…”

Full: http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3942876/

“Prevention of Alzheimer’s disease pathology by cannabinoids: neuroprotection mediated by blockade of microglial activation…Our results indicate that cannabinoid receptors are important in the pathology of AD and that cannabinoids succeed in preventing the neurodegenerative process occurring in the disease.” http://www.jneurosci.org/content/25/8/1904.long

Chronic cannabidiol treatment improves social and object recognition in double transgenic APPswe/PS1∆E9 mice.

Posted on March 1, 2014 by David

“Patients suffering from Alzheimer’s disease (AD) exhibit a decline in cognitive abilities including an inability to recognise familiar faces…

The non-psychoactive phytocannabinoid cannabidiol (CBD) exerts neuroprotective, anti-oxidant and anti-inflammatory effects and promotes neurogenesis. CBD also reverses Aβ-induced spatial memory deficits in rodents.

This is the first study to investigate the effect of chronic CBD treatment on cognition in an AD transgenic mouse model.

Our findings suggest that CBD may have therapeutic potential for specific cognitive impairments associated with AD.”

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/24577515

Efficacy and safety of medical cannabinoids in older subjects: a systematic review.

Posted on February 13, 2014 by David

“This systematic review aims to integrate the evidence on indications, efficacy, safety and pharmacokinetics of medical cannabinoids in older subjects…

Although trials studying medical cannabinoids included older subjects, there is a lack of evidence of its use specifically in older patients. Adequately powered trials are needed to assess the efficacy and safety of cannabinoids in older subjects, as the potential symptomatic benefit is especially attractive in this age group.”

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/24509411

Altered Expression of the CB1 Cannabinoid Receptor in the Triple Transgenic Mouse Model of Alzheimer’s Disease.

Posted on February 6, 2014 by David

“The endocannabinoid system has gained much attention as a new potential pharmacotherapeutic target in various neurodegenerative diseases, including Alzheimer’s disease (AD).

…The altered CB1 levels appear, rather, to be age-and/or pathology-dependent, indicating an involvement of the endocannabinoid system in AD pathology and supporting the ECS as a potential novel therapeutic target for treatment of AD.”

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/24496074

CB2 Receptor Deficiency Increases Amyloid Pathology and Alters Tau Processing in a Transgenic Mouse Model of Alzheimer’s Disease.

Posted on January 11, 2014 by David

“The endocannabinoid CB2 receptor system has been implicated in the neuropathology of Alzheimer’s disease (AD)…

The results confirm the constitutive role of the CB2 receptor system both in reducing amyloid plaque pathology in AD and also support the potential of cannabinoid therapies targeting CB2 to reduce Aβ…”

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/24408112

Cannabinoid agonists showing BuChE inhibition as potential therapeutic agents for Alzheimer’s disease.

Posted on January 1, 2014 by David

“Designing drugs with a specific multi-target profile is a promising approach against multifactorial illnesses as Alzheimer’s disease. In this work, new indazole ethers that possess dual activity as both cannabinoid agonists CB2 and inhibitors of BuChE have been designed by computational methods…

The results of pharmacological tests have revealed that three of these derivatives behave as CB2 cannabinoid agonists and simultaneously show BuChE inhibition. In particular, compounds 3 and 24 have emerged as promising candidates as novel cannabinoids that inhibit BuChE by a non-competitive or mixed mechanism, respectively. On the other hand, both molecules show antioxidant properties.”

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/24378710

In vivo type 1 cannabinoid receptor availability in Alzheimer’s disease.

Posted on November 7, 2013 by David

“The endocannabinoid system (ECS) is an important modulatory and potentially neuroprotective homeostatic system in the brain.

We have investigated CB₁R availability in vivo in patients with AD…

In conclusion, we found no in vivo evidence for a difference in CB₁R availability in AD compared to age-matched controls.

Taken together with recently reported in vivo CB₁R changes in Parkinson’s and Huntington’s disease, these data suggest that the CB₁R is differentially involved in neurodegenerative disorders.”

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/24189376

Therapeutic potential of cannabinoid medicines.

Posted on September 6, 2013 by David

Drug Testing and Analysis

“Cannabis was extensively used as a medicine throughout the developed world in the nineteenth century but went into decline early in the twentieth century ahead of its emergence as the most widely used illicit recreational drug later that century. Recent advances in cannabinoid pharmacology alongside the discovery of the endocannabinoid system (ECS) have re-ignited interest in cannabis-based medicines.

The ECS has emerged as an important physiological system and plausible target for new medicines. Its receptors and endogenous ligands play a vital modulatory role in diverse functions including immune response, food intake, cognition, emotion, perception, behavioural reinforcement, motor co-ordination, body temperature, wake/sleep cycle, bone formation and resorption, and various aspects of hormonal control. In disease it may act as part of the physiological response or as a component of the underlying pathology.

In the forefront of clinical research are the cannabinoids delta-9-tetrahydrocannabinol and cannabidiol, and their contrasting pharmacology will be briefly outlined. The therapeutic potential and possible risks of drugs that inhibit the ECS will also be considered. This paper will then go on to review clinical research exploring the potential of cannabinoid medicines in the following indications: symptomatic relief in multiple sclerosis, chronic neuropathic pain, intractable nausea and vomiting, loss of appetite and weight in the context of cancer or AIDS, psychosis, epilepsy, addiction, and metabolic disorders.”

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/24006213

http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/dta.1529/abstract