Tag Archives: anti-inflammatory

Tel Aviv University researchers find chemicals in marijuana could help treat MS

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“Multiple sclerosis is an inflammatory disease in which the immune system attacks the nervous system. The result can be a wide range of debilitating motor, physical, and mental problems. No one knows why people get the disease or how to treat it.

In a new study published in the Journal of Neuroimmune Pharmacology, Drs. Ewa Kozela, Ana Juknat, Neta Rimmerman and Zvi Vogel of Tel Aviv University’s Dr. Miriam and Sheldon G. Adelson Center for the Biology of Addictive Diseases and Sackler Faculty of Medicine demonstrate that some chemical compounds found in marijuana can help treat MS-like diseases in mice by preventing inflammation in the brain and spinal cord…”

More: http://www.news-medical.net/news/20131008/Tel-Aviv-University-researchers-find-chemicals-in-marijuana-could-help-treat-MS.aspx

“Cannabinoids Decrease the Th17 Inflammatory Autoimmune Phenotype” http://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s11481-013-9493-1

Cannabinoid Receptor 2 Activation: A Means to Prevent Monocyte-Endothelium Engagement.

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“This Commenatry highlights the article by Rom et al which shows that selective cannabinoid receptor 2 activation in leukocytes decreases key steps in monocyte-blood brain barrier engagement suppressing inflammatory leukocyte responses and preventing neuroinflammation.”

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/24055258

Selective Activation of Cannabinoid Receptor 2 in Leukocytes Suppresses Their Engagement of the Brain Endothelium and Protects the Blood-Brain Barrier.

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“Cannabinoid receptor 2 (CB2) is highly expressed in immune cells and stimulation decreases inflammatory responses. We tested the idea that selective CB2 activation in human monocytes suppresses their ability to engage the brain endothelium and migrate across the blood-brain barrier (BBB), preventing consequent injury…

These results indicate that selective CB2 activation in leukocytes decreases key steps in monocyte-BBB engagement, thus suppressing inflammatory leukocyte responses and preventing neuroinflammation.”

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/24055259

The role of androgen receptor in transcriptional modulation of cannabinoid receptor type 1 gene in rat trigeminal ganglia.

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“We have previously shown that anti-hyperalgesic effects of cannabinoid agonists under inflammatory condition are much greater in male than female, and that inflammatory cytokines upregulate cannabinoid receptor type 1 (CB1) expression in male, but not female, trigeminal ganglia (TG) in a testosterone-dependent manner. In this study, we investigated the mechanisms underlying the testosterone-mediated regulation of peripheral CB1 expression…

These experiments provided compelling evidence that testosterone regulates CB1 gene transcription in TG through AR following cytokine stimulation.

These results should provide mechanistic bases for understanding cytokine-hormone-neuron interactions in peripheral cannabinoid systems, and have important clinical implications for pain patients in whom testosterone level is naturally low, gradually declining or pharmacologically compromised.”

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/24055403

Therapeutic Potential of a Novel Cannabinoid Agent CB52 in the Mouse Model ofExperimental Autoimmune Encephalomyelitis.

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“The endocannabinoid system has recently emerged as a promising therapeutic target for MS. The protective mechanisms of cannabinoids are thought to be mediated by activation of cannabinoid receptor 1 (CB1) and 2 (CB2)…

activation of CB1 receptors contributes significantly to the anti-inflammatory and neuroprotective effects of cannabinoids on MS.”

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/24036373

Cannabidiol, unlike synthetic cannabinoids, triggers activation of RBL-2H3 mast cells

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“Plant-derived cannabinoids, such as Δ9-tetrahydrocannabinol (THC) and cannabidiol (CBD), the main psychoactive and nonpsychoactive components of cannabis, respectively, possess myriad pharmacological properties…

Cannabidiol (CBD), a prominent psychoinactive component of cannabis with negligible affinity for known cannabinoid receptors, exerts numerous pharmacological actions, including anti-inflammatory and immunosuppressive effects…

Together, these results support existence of yet-to-be identified sites of interaction, i.e., receptors and/or ion channels associated with Ca2+ influx of natural cannabinoids such as CBD and THC, the identification of which has the potential to provide for novel strategies and agents of therapeutic interest.”

Full text: http://www.jleukbio.org/content/81/6/1512.long

Curing Cancer with Cannabis

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“Repeal Archaic Anti-Marijuana Laws”

cannabis
“Although cannabis has been used in medical treatment for thousands of years in China and India, it became illegal in most of the western world in the first half of the twentieth century. This was thanks to an early corporate conspiracy involving DuPont, William Randolph Hearst, the Mellon Bank and Secretary of the Treasury Andrew Mellon. The major problem with hemp was its immense versatility. Most paper and nearly all plastics were made of hemp fiber, while hemp oil was a major fuel. Dupont was trying to promote their own petroleum-based plastic, Hearst his wood pulp paper factories, and Mellon his friends at Standard Oil. See The Politics of Hemp.

Recent research, mainly out of Spain and Italy (such research is  illegal in the US), reveals that treatment with a cannabis metabolite cannobidiol (CBD) has a marked effect on immune function and is useful in the treatment of breast, bowel and other metastatic cancers, diabetes, epilepsy, glaucoma, high blood pressure, chronic pain and a host of other medical conditions…

Below is a link to a groundbreaking lecture on the medical benefits of cannabis by University of California-San Francisco oncologist/AIDS specialist Donald Abrams, MD. Abrams contends that smoking cannabis actually reduces your chances of lung cancer, owing to its anti-inflammatory and immune effects.

More: http://open.salon.com/blog/stuartbramhall/2013/08/30/curing_cancer_with_cannabis

Cannabinoids Decrease the Th17 Inflammatory Autoimmune Phenotype.

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“Cannabinoids, the Cannabis constituents, are known to possess anti-inflammatory properties but the mechanisms involved are not understood. Here we show that the main psychoactive cannabinoid, Δ-9-tetrahydrocannabinol (THC), and the main nonpsychoactive cannabinoid, cannabidiol (CBD), markedly reduce the Th17 phenotype which is known to be increased in inflammatory autoimmune pathologies such as Multiple Sclerosis…

Pretreatment with CBD also resulted in increased levels of the anti-inflammatory cytokine IL-10. Interestingly, CBD and THC did not affect the levels of TNFα and IFNγ. The downregulation of IL-17 secretion by these cannabinoids does not seem to involve the CB1, CB2, PPARγ, 5-HT1A or TRPV1 receptors…

In conclusion, the results show a unique cannabinoid modulation of the autoimmune cytokine milieu combining suppression of the pathogenic IL-17 and IL-6 cytokines along with boosting the expression of the anti-inflammatory cytokine IL-10.”

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/23892791

Memory-rescuing effects of cannabidiol in an animal model of cognitive impairment relevant to neurodegenerative disorders.

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“Cannabidiol, the main nonpsychotropic constituent of Cannabis sativa, possesses a large number of pharmacological effects including anticonvulsive, sedative, hypnotic, anxiolytic, antipsychotic, anti-inflammatory, and neuroprotective, as demonstrated in clinical and preclinical studies.

 Many neurodegenerative disorders involve cognitive deficits, and this has led to interest in whether cannabidiol could be useful in the treatment of memory impairment associated to these diseases…

We used an animal model of cognitive impairment induced by iron overload in order to test the effects of cannabidiol in memory-impaired rats…

RESULTS:

A single acute injection of cannabidiol at the highest dose was able to recover memory in iron-treated rats. Chronic cannabidiol improved recognition memory in iron-treated rats. Acute or chronic cannabidiol does not affect memory in control rats.

CONCLUSIONS:

The present findings provide evidence suggesting the potential use of cannabidiol for the treatment of cognitive decline associated with neurodegenerative disorders.

 Further studies, including clinical trials, are warranted to determine the usefulness of cannabidiol in humans suffering from neurodegenerative disorders.”

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/21870037

Controlling 2-arachidonoylglycerol metabolism as an anti-inflammatory strategy.

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“The endocannabinoid system is implicated in, and regulates, several physiological processes, ranging from food intake and energy balance to pain and inflammation.

 2-Arachidonoylglycerol (2-AG) is a full agonist at the cannabinoid receptors which classically mediate its effects. The activity of this bioactive lipid is dependent on its endogenous levels, which are tightly controlled by several hydrolases, monoacylglycerol lipase and α/β-hydrolase domain 6 and 12.

 Moreover, 2-AG is also a substrate of cyclooxygenase-2, and this reaction leads to the formation of prostaglandin glycerol esters, the effects of which remain to be fully elucidated.

 In this review we discuss the multiple mechanisms by which 2-AG controls inflammation and the therapeutic potential of 2-AG metabolism inhibitors.”

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/23891880