Category Archives: Autoimmune Disease

Cutting Edge: Dysregulated Endocannabinoid-Rheostat for Plasmacytoid Dendritic Cell Activation in a Systemic Lupus Endophenotype.

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The Journal of Immunology

“Systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) is a systemic autoimmune disease, characterized by loss of tolerance toward self nuclear Ags. Systemic induction of type I IFNs plays a pivotal role in SLE, a major source of type I IFNs being the plasmacytoid dendritic cells (pDCs). Several genes have been linked with susceptibility to SLE in genome-wide association studies. We aimed at exploring the role of one such gene, α/β-hydrolase domain-containing 6 (ABHD6), in regulation of IFN-α induction in SLE patients. We discovered a regulatory role of ABHD6 in human pDCs through modulating the local abundance of its substrate, the endocannabinoid 2-arachidonyl glycerol (2-AG), and elucidated a hitherto unknown cannabinoid receptor 2 (CB2)-mediated regulatory role of 2-AG on IFN-α induction by pDCs. We also identified an ABHD6High SLE endophenotype wherein reduced local abundance of 2-AG relieves the CB2-mediated steady-state resistive tuning on IFN-α induction by pDCs, thereby contributing to SLE pathogenesis.”

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/30728209

http://www.jimmunol.org/content/early/2019/02/05/jimmunol.1801521

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

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“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 diffefent 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.”

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

Special Considerations and Assessment in Patients with Multiple Sclerosis.

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Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation Clinics of North America

“Multiple sclerosis is a progressive autoimmune neurologic disorder that may affect any region of the central nervous system. Spasticity in patients with multiple sclerosis can be debilitating and detrimental to the function and quality of life of patients. Treatment options include oral medications, chemodenervation, physical therapy, and modalities.

Cannabinoids in the form of a delta-9-tetrahydrocannabinol/cannabidiol oro-mucosal spray has been shown to be effective in addressing spasticity in multiple sclerosis.

Successful treatment of spasticity will be integrated, multimodal, and individualized.”

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/30626509

https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1047965118307617?via%3Dihub

Avidekel Cannabis extracts and cannabidiol are as efficient as Copaxone in suppressing EAE in SJL/J mice.

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“Multiple sclerosis (MS) is an autoimmune disease leading to the destruction of myelin with consequent axonal degeneration and severe physical debilitation. The disease can be treated with immunosuppressive drugs that alleviate the symptoms and retard disease aggravation. One such drug in clinical use is glatiramer acetate (Copaxone).

The non-psychotropic immunosuppressive cannabinoid compound cannabidiol (CBD) has recently been shown to have beneficial effects on experimental autoimmune encephalomyelitis (EAE). The aim of our study was to compare the efficacy of CBD and standardized extracts from a CBD-rich, ∆9-THClow Cannabis indica subspecies (Avidekel) with that of Copaxone.

Our data show that CBD and purified Avidekel extracts are as efficient as Copaxone to alleviate the symptoms of proteolipid protein (PLP)-induced EAE in SJL/J mice. No synergistic effect was observed by combining CBD or Avidekel extracts with Copaxone.

Our data support the use of Avidekel extracts in the treatment of MS symptoms.”

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/30291491

https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007%2Fs10787-018-0536-3

Gut microbiota, cannabinoid system and neuroimmune interactions: New perspectives in multiple sclerosis.

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Biochemical Pharmacology

“The gut microbiota plays a fundamental role on the education and function of the host immune system.

Immunological dysregulation is the cause of numerous human disorders such as autoimmune diseases and metabolic disorders frequently associated with inflammatory processes therefore is critical to explore novel mechanisms involved in maintaining the immune system homeostasis.

The cannabinoid system and related bioactive lipids participate in multiple central and peripheral physiological processes that affect metabolic, gastrointestinal and neuroimmune regulatory mechanisms displaying a modulatory role and contributing to the maintenance of the organism’s homeostasis.

In this review, we gather the knowledge on the gut microbiota-endocannabinoids interactions and their impact on autoimmune disorders such as inflammatory bowel disease, rheumatoid arthritis and particularly, multiple sclerosis (MS) as the best example of a CNS autoimmune disorder.

Furthermore, we contribute to this field with new data on changes in many elements of the cannabinoid system in a viral model of MS after gut microbiota manipulation by both antibiotics and probiotics.

Finally, we highlight new therapeutic opportunities, under an integrative view, targeting the eCBS and the commensal microbiota in the context of neuroinflammation and MS.”

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/30171835

https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0006295218303630

Cannabidiol Attenuates Experimental Autoimmune Encephalomyelitis Model of Multiple Sclerosis Through Induction of Myeloid-Derived Suppressor Cells.

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“Multiple sclerosis (MS) is a chronic debilitating autoimmune disease without a cure. While the use of marijuana cannabinoids for MS has recently been approved in some countries, the precise mechanism of action leading to attenuate neuroinflammation is not clear. We used experimental autoimmune encephalomyelitis (EAE), a murine model of MS, to explore the anti-inflammatory properties of cannabidiol (CBD), a non-psychoactive cannabinoid. Treatment with CBD caused attenuation of EAE disease paradigms as indicated by a significant reduction in clinical scores of paralysis, decreased T cell infiltration in the central nervous system, and reduced levels of IL-17 and IFNγ. Interestingly, CBD treatment led to a profound increase in myeloid-derived suppressor cells (MDSCs) in EAE mice when compared to the vehicle-treated EAE controls. These MDSCs caused robust inhibition of MOG-induced proliferation of T cells in vitro. Moreover, adoptive transfer of CBD-induced MDSCs ameliorated EAE while MDSC depletion reversed the beneficial effects of CBD treatment, thereby conclusively demonstrating that MDSCs played a crucial role in CBD-mediated attenuation of EAE. Together, these studies demonstrate for the first time that CBD treatment may ameliorate EAE through induction of immunosuppressive MDSCs.”

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/30123217

“In conclusion, we have demonstrated that the mitigation of EAE with CBD comes from its ability to target a range of anti-inflammatory pathways, including (i) induction of anti-inflammatory MDSCs and (ii) decrease in pro-inflammatory and induction of anti-inflammatory cytokines. Because CBD is non-psychoactive, our studies suggest that CBD may constitute an excellent candidate for the treatment of MS and other autoimmune diseases. Our studies provide further evidence of the importance of MDSCs and that manipulation of such cells may constitute novel therapeutic modality to treat MS and other autoimmune diseases.”

https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fimmu.2018.01782/full

EHP-101, an oral formulation of the cannabidiol aminoquinone VCE-004.8, alleviates bleomycin-induced skin and lung fibrosis.

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Elsevier

“Systemic sclerosis (SSc) or scleroderma is a chronic multi-organ autoimmune disease characterized by vascular, immunological, and fibrotic abnormalities.

The etiology of SSc is unknown, but there is growing evidence that dysfunction of the endocannabinoid system (ECS) plays a critical role in its development.

Since the semi-synthetic cannabinoquinoid VCE-004.8 could alleviate bleomycin (BLM)-induced skin fibrosis, we have investigated an oral lipid formulation (EHP-101) of this dual PPARγ/CB2 receptors activator for the prevention of skin- and lung fibrosis and of collagen accumulation in BLM challenged mice.

Taken together, these data provide a rationale for further developing VCE-004.8 as an orally active agent to alleviate scleroderma and, possibly, other fibrotic diseases as well.”

 https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/30076848
https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0006295218303174

Emerging strategies targeting cb2 cannabinoid receptor: biased agonism and allosterism.

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Biochemical Pharmacology

“During these last years, the CB2 cannabinoid receptor has emerged as a potential anti-inflammatory target in diseases such as multiple sclerosis, amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, Huntington’s disease, ischemic stroke, autoimmune diseases, osteoporosis, and cancer. However, the development of clinically useful CB2 agonists reveals to be very challenging. Allosterism and biased-signaling mechanisms at CB2 receptor may offer new avenues for the development of improved CB2 receptor-targeted therapies. Although there has been some exploration of CB1 receptor activation by new CB1 allosteric or biased-signaling ligands, the CB2 receptor is still at initial stages in this domain. In an effort to understand the molecular basis behind these pharmacological approaches, we have analyzed and summarized the structural data reported so far at CB2 receptor.”

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/30055149
https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0006295218302995

Endocannabinoid system in systemic lupus erythematosus: first evidence for a deranged 2-arachidonoylglycerol metabolism.

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The International Journal of Biochemistry & Cell Biology

“The endocannabinoid (eCB) system plays a key role in many physiological and pathological conditions and its dysregulation has been described in several rheumatological and autoimmune diseases. Yet, its possible alteration in systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) has never been investigated.

Here, we aimed filling this gap in plasma and peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMCs) of patients with SLE and age- and sex- matched healthy subjects (HS).

In conclusion, our results demonstrate, for the first time, an alteration of eCB system in SLE patients. They represents the first step toward the understanding of the role of eCB system in SLE that likely suggest DAGL and 2-AG as potential biomarkers of SLE in easily accessible blood samples.

Our data provides proof-of-concept to the development of cannabis-based medicine as immune-modulating agents.”

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/29655919

https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1357272518300852?via%3Dihub

Clinical response to Nabiximols correlates with the down-regulation of immune pathways in Multiple Sclerosis.

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European Journal of Neurology

“Nabiximols (Sativex® ) is a cannabinoid-based compound used for the treatment of moderate to severe spasticity in multiple sclerosis (MS).

The aim of the study is to investigate the effect of the administration of Nabiximols on blood transcriptome profile of MS patients and to interpret it in the context of pathways and networks.

Our findings support the immunomodulatory activity of cannabinoids in MS patients. Further studies in more specific cell types are needed to refine these results.”

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/29528549

http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/ene.13623/abstract

“Cannabinoid compounds suppress immune function, and while this could compromise one’s ability to fight infections, immune suppression is the desired effect for therapies for autoimmune diseases.” https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/29512125
“Cannabinoids have emerged as powerful drug candidates for the treatment of inflammatory and autoimmune diseases due to their immunosuppressive properties.” https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2923447/