“Inflammatory bowel diseases (IBD) are characterized by a chronic and recurrent gastrointestinal condition, including mainly ulcerative colitis (UC) and Crohn’s disease (CD). Cannabis sativa (CS) is widely used for medicinal, recreational, and religious purposes. The most studied compound of CS is tetrahydrocannabinol (THC) and cannabidiol (CBD). Besides many relevant therapeutic roles such as anti-inflammatory and antioxidant properties, there is still much controversy about the consumption of this plant since the misuse can lead to serious health problems. Because of these reasons, the aim of this review is to investigate the effects of CS on the treatment of UC and CD. The literature search was performed in PubMed/Medline, PMC, EMBASE, and Cochrane databases. The use of CS leads to the improvement of UC and CD scores and quality of life. The medical use of CS is on the rise. Although the literature shows relevant antioxidant and anti-inflammatory effects that could improve UC and CD scores, it is still not possible to establish a treatment criterion since the studies have no standardization regarding the variety and part of the plant that is used, route of administration and doses. Therefore, we suggest caution in the use of CS in the therapeutic approach of IBD until clinical trials with standardization and a relevant number of patients are performed.”
Category Archives: THC (Delta-9-Tetrahydrocannabinol)
Cannabis Indica speeds up Recovery from Coronavirus
“Cannabis Indica Speeds up Recovery from Coronavirus Severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS) is a viral respiratory disease caused by the SARS coronavirus (SARS-CoV).
Cannabis indica speeds up recovery.
Recovered individuals do not infect others.
Cannabis indica resin is antiviral and inhibits cell proliferation.
It has a higher efficacy than any single compound like THC or CBD”
Cannabinoids in epilepsy: Clinical efficacy and pharmacological considerations.
“Advances in the development of drugs with novel mechanisms of action have not been sufficient to significantly reduce the percentage of patients presenting drug-resistant epilepsy. This lack of satisfactory clinical results has led to the search for more effective treatment alternatives with new mechanisms of action.
The aim of this study is to examine epidemiological aspects of the use of cannabis-based products for the treatment of epilepsy, with particular emphasis on the main mechanisms of action, indications for use, clinical efficacy, and safety.
In recent years there has been growing interest in the use of cannabis-based products for the treatment of a wide range of diseases, including epilepsy. The cannabis plant is currently known to contain more than 100 terpenophenolic compounds, known as cannabinoids. The 2 most abundant are delta-9-tetrahydrocannabinol and cannabidiol.
Studies of preclinical models of epilepsy have shown that these cannabinoids have anticonvulsant properties, and 100% purified cannabidiol and cannabidiol-enriched cannabis extracts are now being used to treat epilepsy in humans. Several open-label studies and randomised controlled clinical trials have demonstrated the efficacy and safety of these products.”
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/32317123
https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0213485320300402?via%3Dihub
Cannabinoids.
“Cannabinoids, broadly speaking, are a class of biological compounds that bind to cannabinoid receptors. They are most frequently sourced from and associated with the plants of the Cannabis genus, including Cannabis sativa, Cannabis indica, and Cannabis ruderalis.
The earliest known use of cannabinoids dates back 5,000 years ago in modern Romania, while the documentation of the earliest medical dates back to around 400 AD. However, formal extraction, isolation, and structural elucidation of cannabinoids have taken place rather recently in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Since then, numerous advancements have been made in further isolating naturally occurring cannabinoids, synthesizing artificial equivalents, and discovering the endogenous the endocannabinoid system in mammals, reptiles, fish, and birds.”
Epigenetic regulation of the cannabinoid receptor CB1 in an activity-based rat model of anorexia nervosa.
“Both environmental and genetic factors are known to contribute to the development of anorexia nervosa (AN), but the exact etiology remains poorly understood.
Herein, we studied the transcriptional regulation of the endocannabinoid system, an interesting target for body weight maintenance and the control of food intake and energy balance.
Among the evaluated endocannabinoid system components, we observed a selective and significant down-regulation of the gene encoding for the type 1 cannabinoid receptor (Cnr1) in ABA rats’ hypothalamus and nucleus accumbens and, in the latter area, a consistent, significant and correlated increase in DNA methylation at the gene promoter.
Our findings support a possible role for Cnr1 in the ABA animal model of AN. In particular, its regulation in the nucleus accumbens appears to be triggered by environmental cues due to the consistent epigenetic modulation of the promoter.
These data warrant further studies on Cnr1 regulation as a possible target for treatment of AN.”
Age-dependent Alteration in Mitochondrial Dynamics and Autophagy in Hippocampal Neuron of Cannabinoid CB1 receptor-deficient Mice.
“Endocannabinoid system activity contributes to the homeostatic defense against aging and thus may counteract the progression of brain aging.
The cannabinoid type 1 (CB1) receptor activity declines with aging in the brain, which impairs neuronal network integrity and cognitive functions.
Altogether, these findings suggest that reduced CB1 signaling in CB1-KO mice leads to reduced mitophagy and abnormal mitochondrial morphology in hippocampal neurons during aging.
These mitochondrial changes might be due to the impairments in mitochondrial quality control system, which links age-related decline in CB1 activity and impaired memory.”
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/32294520
https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0361923020301386?via%3Dihub
“Cannabinoid receptor stimulation is anti-inflammatory and improves memory in old rats” https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2586121/
The effects of cannabinoids in exemestane-resistant breast cancer cells: PS181.
“Exemestane is one of the aromatase inhibitors (AI) used as first line treatment for estrogen-receptor positive breast cancer in post-menopausal women. Exemestane acts by inhibiting aromatase, the enzyme responsible for the conversion of androgens to estrogens and also by promoting apoptosis of breast cancer cells. Nevertheless, despite its therapeutic success, this AI, after prolonged treatment, can induce acquired resistance, which causes tumor relapse. Therefore, it is important to find new strategies to overcome resistance in order to improve breast cancer treatment.
Considering that the development of resistance is the main reason for endocrine treatment failure, our group decided to explore the ability of three cannabinoids, Δ9-tetrahydrocannabinol (THC), cannabidiol (CBD) and anandamide (AEA), to reverse resistance to exemestane. The THC and CBD are phytocannabinoids derived from the plant Cannabis sativa (marijuana) whereas AEA is an endocannabinoid. For that, it was used LTEDaro cells, a long-term estrogen deprived ER+ breast cancer cell line that mimics resistance to exemestane. These cells were treated with exemestane in combination with two phytocannabinoids, CBD and THC, and the endocannabinoid AEA.
The presence of CB1 and CB2 in LTEDaro cells was confirmed by Western blot analysis and the effects of the combination of cannabinoids with exemestane were evaluated by MTT and LDH assays. Cell morphology was analyzed by Giemsa and Hoechst staining.
Results: Our results demonstrate that all the cannabinoids induce a decrease in viability of exemestane-resistant cells, in a dose- and time-dependent manner, without LDH release. These results indicate that the studied cannabinoids, mainly THC and AEA, revert the resistance to exemestane, probably by inducing apoptosis, as observed in Giemsa/Hoechst stain by the presence of typical morphological features of apoptosis.
Conclusion: This study highlights the efficacy of using cannabinoids as a potential adjuvant treatment to revert resistance to AIs.”
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/32258721
https://journals.lww.com/pbj/fulltext/2017/09000/The_effects_of_cannabinoids_in.118.aspx
Association of State Marijuana Legalization Policies for Medical and Recreational Use With Vaping-Associated Lung Disease
“From June 2019 to January 2020, over 2500 cases of electronic cigarette (e-cigarette)– or vaping–associated lung injury (EVALI) were reported to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).
Some states have legalized marijuana and THC-containing products for recreational use. Many other states allow purchases for qualifying medical purposes. In remaining states, all forms of consumption and distribution are illegal, and individuals who use THC likely obtain it from the black market. If black-market THC products are responsible for EVALI, then case rates may be lower in recreational marijuana states.
The goal of this cross-sectional study was to measure whether states where marijuana is legal have lower rates of EVALI compared with states where it is illegal.
Recreational marijuana states had among the lowest EVALI rates of all states.
The data suggest that EVALI cases were concentrated in states where consumers do not have legal access to recreational marijuana dispensaries. This association was not driven by state-level differences in e-cigarette use, and EVALI case rates were not associated with state-level prevalence of e-cigarette use.
One possible inference from our results is that the presence of legal markets for marijuana has helped mitigate or may be protective against EVALI.”
https://jamanetwork.com/journals/jamanetworkopen/fullarticle/2763966
“Legal Marijuana Tied to Lower Rates of Vaping Illness” https://www.medpagetoday.com/pulmonology/smoking/85807
Cannabinoids as anticancer therapeutic agents.
“The recent announcement of marijuana legalization in Canada spiked many discussions about potential health benefits of Cannabis sativa. Cannabinoids are active chemical compounds produced by cannabis, and their numerous effects on the human body are primarily exerted through interactions with cannabinoid receptor types 1 (CB1) and 2 (CB2). Cannabinoids are broadly classified as endo-, phyto-, and synthetic cannabinoids. In this review, we will describe the activity of cannabinoids on the cellular level, comprehensively summarize the activity of all groups of cannabinoids on various cancers and propose several potential mechanisms of action of cannabinoids on cancer cells.”
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/32249682
“Endocannabinoids and phytocannabinoids can be used for cancer therapy. Cannabis extracts have stronger anti-tumor capacity than single cannabinoids. Combination of several cannabinoids may have more potent effect on cancer.”
https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/15384101.2020.1742952?journalCode=kccy20
MyD88-dependent and -independent signalling via TLR3 and TLR4 are differentially modulated by Δ9-tetrahydrocannabinol and cannabidiol in human macrophages.
“Toll-like receptors (TLRs) are sensors of pathogen-associated molecules that trigger inflammatory signalling in innate immune cells including macrophages. All TLRs, with the exception of TLR3, promote intracellular signalling via recruitment of the myeloid differentiation factor 88 (MyD88) adaptor, while TLR3 signals via Toll-Interleukin-1 Receptor (TIR)-domain-containing adaptor-inducing interferon (IFN)-β (TRIF) adaptor to induce MyD88-independent signalling. Furthermore, TLR4 can activate both MyD88-dependent and -independent signalling (via TRIF).
The study aim was to decipher the impact of the highly purified plant-derived (phyto) cannabinoids Δ9-tetrahydrocannabinol (THC) and cannabidiol (CBD), when delivered in isolation and in combination (1:1), on MyD88-dependent and -independent signalling in macrophages.
TLRs are attractive therapeutic targets given their role in inflammation and initiation of adaptive immunity, and data herein indicate that both CBD and THC preferentially modulate TLR3 and TLR4 signalling via MyD88-independent mechanisms in macrophages. This offers mechanistic insight into the role of phytocannabinoids in modulating cellular inflammation.”
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/32244040
https://www.jni-journal.com/article/S0165-5728(20)30057-6/pdf
“Cannabinoids have been shown to exert anti-inflammatory activities in various in vivo and in vitro experimental models as well as ameliorate various inflammatory degenerative diseases. Δ9-Tetrahydrocannabinol (THC) is a major constituent of Cannabis. The second major constituent of Cannabis extract is cannabidiol (CBD). Both THC and CBD have been shown to exert anti-inflammatory properties and to modulate the function of immune cells. In summary, our results show that although both THC and CBD exert anti-inflammatory effects, the two compounds engage different, although to some extent overlapping, intracellular pathways. Both THC and CBD decrease the activation of proinflammatory signaling.” https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2804319/