The endocannabinoid system: a new approach to control cardiovascular disease.

Posted on February 20, 2016 by David

“The endocannabinoid (EC) system consists of 2 types of G-protein-coupled cannabinoid receptors–cannabinoid type 1 (CB1) and cannabinoid type 2 (CB2)–and their natural ligands.

The EC system plays a key role in the regulation of food intake and fat accumulation, as well as glucose and lipid metabolism.

When overactivated, the EC system triggers dyslipidemia, thrombotic and inflammatory states, and insulin resistance.

Blocking CB1 receptors centrally and peripherally in adipose tissue can help normalize an overactivated EC system. CB1 blockade helps regulate food intake and adipose tissue metabolism, contributing to improved insulin sensitivity and other features of the metabolic syndrome.

Visceral adipose tissue is most closely associated with the metabolic syndrome, which is a constellation of conditions that place people at high risk for coronary artery disease.

Targeting the EC system represents a new approach to treating visceral obesity and reducing cardiovascular risk factors.”

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/16473257

http://www.thctotalhealthcare.com/category/cardiovascular-disease/

Hempseed as a nutritional resource: An overview

Posted on January 19, 2016 by David

“The seed of Cannabis sativa L. has been an important source of nutrition for thousands of years in Old World cultures. Technically a nut, hempseed typically contains over 30% oil and about 25% protein, with considerable amounts of dietary fiber, vitamins and minerals. Hempseed oil is over 80% in polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFAs), and is an exceptionally rich source of the two essential fatty acids (EFAs) linoleic acid (18:2 omega-6) and alpha-linolenic acid (18:3 omega-3). The omega-6 to omega-3 ratio (n6/n3) in hempseed oil is normally between 2:1 and 3:1, which is considered to be optimal for human health. Hempseed has been used to treat various disorders for thousands of years in traditional oriental medicine.” http://link.springer.com/article/10.1007%2Fs10681-004-4811-6

The cardiac and haemostatic effects of dietary hempseed

Posted on January 19, 2016 by David

“Cannabis sativa L. is an annual plant in the Cannabaceae family. It has been an important source of food, fiber, medicine and psychoactive/religious drug since prehistoric times. Hemp has a botanical relationship to drug/medicinal varieties of Cannabis. However, hempseed no longer contains psychotropic action and instead may provide significant health benefits. Hempseed has an excellent content of omega-3 and omega-6 fatty acids. These compounds have beneficial effects on our cardiovascular health.” http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2868018/

Cannabidiol limits Tcell-mediated chronic autoimmune myocarditis: implications to autoimmune disorders and organ transplantation.

Posted on January 17, 2016 by David

“Myocarditis is a major cause of heart failure and sudden cardiac death in young adults and adolescents. Many cases of myocarditis are associated with autoimmune processes in which cardiac myosin is a major autoantigen.

Conventional immunosuppressive therapies often provide unsatisfactory results and are associated with adverse toxicities during the treatment of autoimmune myocarditis.

Cannabidiol (CBD) is a non-psychoactive constituent of Marijuana which exerts antiinflammatory effects independent from classical cannabinoid receptors.

Recently 80 clinical trials have been reported investigating the effects of CBD in various diseases from inflammatory bowel disease to graft-versus-host disease.

CBD-based formulations are used for the management of multiple sclerosis in numerous countries, and CBD also received FDA approval for the treatment of refractory childhood epilepsy and glioblastoma multiforme.

Herein, using a well-established mouse model of experimental autoimmune myocarditis (EAM) induced by immunization with cardiac myosin emmulsified in adjuvant resulting in T cell-mediated inflammation, cardiomyocyte cell death, fibrosis and myocardial dysfunction, we studied the potential beneficial effects of CBD…

CBD may represent a promising novel treatment for management of autoimmune myocarditis and possibly other autoimmune disorders, and organ transplantation.”

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/26772776

Abrupt Quitting of Long-term Heavy Recreational Cannabis Use is Not Followed by Significant Changes in Blood Pressure and Heart Rate.

Posted on January 14, 2016 by David

“To shed more light on the role of heart rate and blood pressure during cannabis withdrawal.

Abrupt cessation of recreational long-term daily cannabis use was not followed by significant changes in heart rate, blood and pulse pressure.

Also, these measures were not significantly correlated with the severity of the cannabis withdrawal syndrome.

The cohort’s risk for CVD was moderate (all tobacco using, overweight in 9 of 35 patients and elevation of serum C-reactive protein in many patients).

Its metabolic risk for CVD was minor considering the mostly normal blood pressure, normal serum lipids and glucose.“

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/26761126

Oxyradical Stress, Endocannabinoids, and Atherosclerosis.

Posted on December 26, 2015 by David

“Atherosclerosis is responsible for most cardiovascular disease (CVD) and is caused by several factors including hypertension, hypercholesterolemia, and chronic inflammation.

Oxidants and electrophiles have roles in the pathophysiology of atherosclerosis and the concentrations of these reactive molecules are an important factor in disease initiation and progression.

Overactive NADPH oxidase (Nox) produces excess superoxide resulting in oxidized macromolecules, which is an important factor in atherogenesis. Although superoxide and reactive oxygen species (ROS) have obvious toxic properties, they also have fundamental roles in signaling pathways that enable cells to adapt to stress.

In addition to inflammation and ROS, the endocannabinoid system (eCB) is also important in atherogenesis.

Linkages have been postulated between the eCB system, Nox, oxidative stress, and atherosclerosis.

For instance, CB2 receptor-evoked signaling has been shown to upregulate anti-inflammatory and anti-oxidative pathways, whereas CB1 signaling appears to induce opposite effects.

The second messenger lipid molecule diacylglycerol is implicated in the regulation of Nox activity and diacylglycerol lipase β (DAGLβ) is a key biosynthetic enzyme in the biosynthesis eCB ligand 2-arachidonylglycerol (2-AG).

Furthermore, Nrf2 is a vital transcription factor that protects against the cytotoxic effects of both oxidant and electrophile stress.

This review will highlight the role of reactive oxygen species (ROS) in intracellular signaling and the impact of deregulated ROS-mediated signaling in atherogenesis.

In addition, there is also emerging knowledge that the eCB system has an important role in atherogenesis.

We will attempt to integrate oxidative stress and the eCB system into a conceptual framework that provides insights into this pathology.”

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/26702404

http://www.thctotalhealthcare.com/category/atherosclerosis-2/

Characterization of Lignanamides from Hemp (Cannabis sativa L. ) Seed and their Antioxidant and Acetylcholinesterase Inhibitory Activities.

Posted on November 21, 2015 by David

Image result for J Agric Food Chem.

“Hempseed is known for its content in fatty acids, proteins and fiber, which contribute to its nutritional value.

Here we studied the secondary metabolites of hempseed aiming at identifying bioactive compounds that could contribute to its health benefits.

This investigation led to the isolation of four new lignanamides cannabisin M, 2, cannabisin N, 5, cannabisin O, 8 and 3,3′-demethyl-heliotropamide, 10, together with ten known lignanamides, among which 4 was identified for the first time from hempseed.

Structures were established on the basis of NMR, HR-MS, UV, IR as well as by comparison with the literature data.

Lignanamides 2, 7, 9-14 showed good antioxidant activity among which 7, 10 and 13 also inhibited acetylcholinesterase in vitro.

The new identified compounds in this study added to the diversity of hempseed composition and the bioassays implied that hempseed, with lignanamides as nutrients, may be a good source of bioactive and protective compounds.” http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/26585089

“Alzheimer’s Disease (AD) is the most common single cause of dementia in our ageing society. On full assessment and diagnosis of AD, initiation of an AChe inhibitor is recommended as early as possible, it is important that AChe inhibitor therapy is considered for patients with mild to moderate AD.” https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2014378/

“The Effects of Hempseed Meal Intake and Linoleic Acid on Drosophila Models of Neurodegenerative Diseases and Hypercholesterolemia. Our results indicate that hempseed meal (HSM) and linoleic acid are potential candidates for the treatment of Alzheimer’s disease (AD) and cardiovascular disease. These results show that HSM may prove of great utility as a health food, with potential for the prevention of AD and cardiovascular disease.” https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3933972/

Metabolic Syndrome among Marijuana Users in the United States: An Analysis of National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey Data.

Posted on November 10, 2015 by David

“Research on the health effects of marijuana use in light of its increased medical use and the current obesity epidemic is needed. Our objective was to explore the relationship between marijuana use and metabolic syndrome across stages of adulthood…

Current marijuana users had lower odds of presenting with metabolic syndrome than never users. Among emerging adults, current marijuana users were 54% less likely than never users to present with metabolic syndrome. Current and past middle-aged adult marijuana users were less likely to have metabolic syndrome than never users.

CONCLUSIONS:

Current marijuana use is associated with lower odds of metabolic syndrome across emerging and middle-aged US adults.”

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/26548604

Prospects for Creation of Cardioprotective Drugs Based on Cannabinoid Receptor Agonists.

Posted on October 22, 2015 by David

“Cannabinoids can mimic the infarct-reducing effect of early ischemic preconditioning, delayed ischemic preconditioning, and ischemic postconditioning against myocardial ischemia/reperfusion. They do this primarily through both CB1 and CB2 receptors.

Cannabinoids are also involved in remote preconditioning of the heart.

The cannabinoid receptor ligands also exhibit an antiapoptotic effect during ischemia/reperfusion of the heart.

The acute cardioprotective effect of cannabinoids is mediated by activation of protein kinase C, extracellular signal-regulated kinase, and p38 kinase.

The delayed cardioprotective effect of cannabinoid anandamide is mediated via stimulation of phosphatidylinositol-3-kinase-Akt signaling pathway and enhancement of heat shock protein 72 expression.

The delayed cardioprotective effect of another cannabinoid, Δ9-tetrahydrocannabinol, is associated with augmentation of nitric oxide (NO) synthase expression, but data on the involvement of NO synthase in the acute cardioprotective effect of cannabinoids are contradictory.

The adenosine triphosphate-sensitive K+ channel is involved in the synthetic cannabinoid HU-210-induced cardiac resistance to ischemia/reperfusion injury.

Cannabinoids inhibit Na+/Ca2+ exchange via peripheral cannabinoid receptor (CB2) activation that may also be related to the antiapoptotic and cardioprotective effects of cannabinoids.

The cannabinoid receptor agonists should be considered as prospective group of compounds for creation of drugs that are able to protect the heart against ischemia-reperfusion injury in the clinical setting.”

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/26487546

Endocannabinoids and the Cardiovascular System in Health and Disease.

Posted on September 27, 2015 by David

“The endocannabinoid system is widely distributed throughout the cardiovascular system.

Endocannabinoids play a minimal role in the regulation of cardiovascular function in normal conditions, but are altered in most cardiovascular disorders.

In shock, endocannabinoids released within blood mediate the associated hypotension through CB1 activation. In hypertension, there is evidence for changes in the expression of CB1, and CB1 antagonism reduces blood pressure in obese hypertensive and diabetic patients.

The endocannabinoid system is also upregulated in cardiac pathologies.

This is likely to be cardioprotective, via CB2 and CB1 (lesser extent).

In the vasculature, endocannabinoids cause vasorelaxation through activation of multiple target sites, inhibition of calcium channels, activation of potassium channels, NO production and the release of vasoactive substances. Changes in the expression or function of any of these pathways alter the vascular effect of endocannabinoids.

Endocannabinoids have positive (CB2) and negative effects (CB1) on the progression of atherosclerosis. However, any negative effects of CB1 may not be consequential, as chronic CB1 antagonism in large scale human trials was not associated with significant reductions in atheroma.

In neurovascular disorders such as stroke, endocannabinoids are upregulated and protective, involving activation of CB1, CB2, TRPV1 and PPARα.

Although most of this evidence is from preclinical studies, it seems likely that cannabinoid-based therapies could be beneficial in a range of cardiovascular disorders.”

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/26408169