Safety and side effects of cannabidiol, a Cannabis sativa constituent.
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Tag Archives: anti-inflammatory
Cannabidiol reduces host immune response and prevents cognitive impairments in Wistar rats submitted to pneumococcal meningitis.
“Pneumococcal meningitis is a life-threatening disease characterized by an acute infection affecting the pia matter, arachnoid and subarachnoid space. The intense inflammatory response is associated with a significant mortality rate and neurologic sequelae, such as, seizures, sensory-motor deficits and impairment of learning and memory.
The aim of this study was to evaluate the effects of acute and extended administration of cannabidiol on pro-inflammatory cytokines and behavioral parameters in adult Wistar rats submitted to pneumococcal meningitis.
The extended administration of cannabidiol at different doses reduced the TNF-α level in frontal cortex. Prolonged treatment with canabidiol, 10mg/kg, prevented memory impairment in rats with pneumococcal meningitis.
Although descriptive, our results demonstrate that cannabidiol has anti-inflammatory effects in pneumococcal meningitis and prevents cognitive sequel.” https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/23085269
“Although descriptive, our results demonstrate that chronic treatment with CBD plays an anti-inflammatory role in pneumococcal meningitis. Furthermore, it prevents cognitive damage, possibly representing a new pharmacological approach towards pneumococcal meningitis.” https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0014299912008485?via%3Dihub
Cannabis-derived substances in cancer therapy–an emerging anti-inflammatory role for the cannabinoids.
“Cannabinoids, the active components of the cannabis plant, have some clinical merit both as an anti-emetic and appetite stimulant in cachexic patients. Recently, interest in developing cannabinoids as therapies has increased following reports that they possess anti-tumour properties.
Research into cannabinoids as anti-cancer agents is in its infancy, and has mainly focussed on the pro-apoptotic effects of this class of agent. Impressive anti-cancer activities have been reported; actions that are mediated in large part by disruptions to ubiquitous signalling pathways such as ERK and PI3-K. However, recent developments have highlighted a putative role for cannabinoids as anti-inflammatory agents. Chronic inflammation has been associated with neoplasia for sometime, and as a consequence, reducing inflammation as a way of impacting cancer presents a new role for these compounds.
This article reviews the ever-changing relationship between cannabinoids and cancer, and updates our understanding of this class of agent. Furthermore, the relationship between chronic inflammation and cancer, and how cannabinoids can impact this relationship will be described.”
Therapeutic potential of cannabinoid receptor ligands: current status.
Abstract
“There are at least two types of cannabinoid receptors, CB1 also named CNR1 and CB2 also named CNR2, both coupled to G proteins. CB1 receptors exist primarily on central and peripheral neurons. CB2 receptors are present mainly on immune cells. Endogenous agonists for cannabinoid receptors (endocannabinoids) have also been discovered, the most important being arachidonoyl ethanolamide (anandamide), 2-arachidonoyl glycerol (2-AG), and 2-archidonyl glyceryl ether. Following their release, endocannabinoids are removed from the extracellular space and then degraded by intracellular enzymic hydrolysis. CB1/CB2 agonists are already used clinically as antiemetic or to stimulate appetite. Potential therapeutic uses of cannabinoid receptor agonists include the management of multiple sclerosis, spinal cord injury, pain, inflammatory disorders, glaucoma, bronchial asthma, vasodilatation that accompanies advanced cirrhosis, and cancer.”
Cannabinoids, Endocannabinoids, and Related Analogs in Inflammation.
“This review covers reports published in the last 5 years on the anti-inflammatory activities of all classes of cannabinoids, including phytocannabinoids such as tetrahydrocannabinol and cannabidiol, synthetic analogs such as ajulemic acid and nabilone, the endogenous cannabinoids anandamide and related compounds, namely, the elmiric acids, and finally, noncannabinoid components of Cannabis that show anti-inflammatory action. It is intended to be an update on the topic of the involvement of cannabinoids in the process of inflammation. A possible mechanism for these actions is suggested involving increased production of eicosanoids that promote the resolution of inflammation. This differentiates these cannabinoids from cyclooxygenase-2 inhibitors that suppress the synthesis of eicosanoids that promote the induction of the inflammatory process.”
“INTRODUCTION
This review is intended to be an update on the topic of the involvement of cannabinoids in the process of inflammation. Other reviews cover certain aspects of this subject and the reader is referred to them for a discussion of earlier reports. In this review are reports published in the last 5 years on the activities of all classes of cannabinoids, including the endogenous cannabinoids such as anandamide, related compounds such as the elmiric acids (EMAs), and noncannabinoid components of Cannabis that show anti-inflammatory action. An interesting recently published example of the latter one is caryophyllene, an abundant component of Cannabis oil that shows anti-inflammatory activity and has high affinity for cannabinoid receptor 2 (CB2; 5).”
“Phytocannabinoids: Tetrahydrocannabinol and Cannabidiol”
“PLANT PREPARATIONS AND NONCANNABINOID CONSTITUENTS OF CANNABIS”
“Cannabis sativa is a complex botanical, and it is not unlikely that the therapeutic benefits of marijuana are due to some of the more than 60 cannabinoids and 200–250 noncannabinoid constituents of the plant. One noncannabinoid, the geranylated flavone cannflavin A (Fig. 5), is 30 times more potent than aspirin as an inhibitor of prostaglandin E2 . These potentially important findings have been overlooked, as most attention in marijuana research has been directed to the analgesic effects of the plant and to mechanisms of psychoactivity. A further example that this line of inquiry has remained dormant is a series of overlooked observations, which demonstrate potent anti-inflammatory actions of a crude marijuana extract and of the nonpsychoactive Cannabis constituents, CBD, cannabinol, and cannabichromene in the carrageenan paw edema model of acute inflammation in rats. Volatile oil products of the plant also have biological activity. Thus, pyrolysis products may add to the therapeutic properties of smoked marijuana. Several of the most abundant cannabinoid and noncannabinoid constituents of C. sativa are nonpsychoactive.”
“Flavonoids are ubiquitous plant phenolic compounds that consist of two aromatic rings linked by a three carbon bridge. They are attracting interest because of their antioxidant, antitumor, anti-inflammatory, and antimicrobial activities. The flavone luteolin, a constituent of C. sativa, is also found in spices and in vegetables such as celery and green pepper. When added to peripheral blood mononuclear cells in vitro, luteolin suppresses production of the inflammatory cytokines TNFα, IL-1b, and IL-6, actions that relate to a selective reduction in numbers of monocytes. Perhaps more importantly, luteolin inhibits growth of Plasmodium falciparum in vitro and protects against induction of colon cancer in mice.”
“CONCLUSIONS
Possibly the very earliest literature reference on Cannabis describes its use as an anti-inflammatory agent. The Chinese emperor Shen-nung (ca. 2000 B.C.), in a work called Pen-ts’ao Ching, noted many of the effects of Cannabis in humans. Among other properties, it was claimed that cannabis “undoes rheumatism”, suggesting possible anti-inflammatory effects. The reports described in this review of the current literature provide support for the claims made by the ancient Chinese healers. These more recent publications include relief from chronic neuropathic pain, fibromyalgia, rheumatoid arthritis, and postoperative pain. In addition, a large body of preclinical data on all classes of cannabinoids, including the endogenous examples, point to a variety of therapeutic targets for cannabinoids and important roles for the endocannabinoids in the physiology of inflammation.”
Brain’s own cannabis compound protects against inflammation
“Some clinical studies have indicated that marijuana or its active cannabinoid ingredient alleviates symptoms of the inflammatory disease multiple sclerosis (MS). Also, researchers have found that the brain’s natural “endocannabinoids” are released after brain injury and are believed to alleviate neuronal damage. However, scientists have not understood how such substances act within the brain’s own immune system.
Now, experiments by Oliver Ullrich and colleagues have pinpointed how one of the brain’s endocannabinoids protects neurons from inflammation after such damage. They say their studies could lead to new drugs to treat the inflammation and brain degeneration from MS or other such disorders.
In an article in the January 5, 2006, issue of Neuron, the researchers reported experiments showing how the endocannabinoid anandamide (AEA) protects brain cells from inflammation. Such a role in the brain’s immune system is distinct from cannabinoids’ effects on neuronal signaling that produce the behavioral effects of marijuana.”
Pot Chemical May Curb Inflammation – WebMD
“Marijuana’s active ingredient may curb inflammation and help treat skin allergies.
That news comes from researchers including Meliha Karsak, PhD, and Thomas Tuting, MD, of Germany’s University of Bonn.
Marijuana’s key compound, THC, is a type of chemical called a cannabinoid. The brain contains two types of cannabinoid receptors.
Karsak and colleagues studied mice born with or without cannabinoid receptors. The mice wore ear tags to identify them; those ear tags contained nickel.
The mice without cannabinoid receptors were particularly likely to have allergic skin reactions to the nickel in the ear tags.
The scientists reasoned that the mice’s allergies may have been linked to their lack of cannabinoid receptors.
Karsak’s team tested that theory in several experiments.
First, they turned off cannabinoid receptors in healthy mice. Those mice then became more likely to develop skin inflammation near their nickel ear tags.
Next, the researchers exposed other mice with cannabinoid receptors to a skin irritant. Some of the mice got THC shots after being exposed to the irritant. Others got a THC skin lotion before and after exposure to the irritant.
The THC shot and lotion both helped soothe the mice’s inflamed skin.
“If we dabbed THC solution onto the animals’ skin shortly before and after applying the allergen, a lot less swelling occurred than normal,” Tuting says in a University of Bonn news release.
In the journal Science, the researchers write that their study “strongly suggests” that the body’s cannabinoid system can help tame inflammation and that THC skin lotions have “promising potential” for treating skin allergies caused by contact with irritating chemicals.
However, the researchers didn’t test the THC lotion on skin allergies in people.”
http://www.webmd.com/allergies/news/20070607/pot-chemical-may-curb-inflammation
“Attenuation of allergic contact dermatitis through the endocannabinoid system…These results demonstrate a protective role of the endocannabinoid system in contact allergy in the skin and suggest a target for therapeutic intervention.” http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/17556587
Why Cannabis Stems Inflammation
“Cannabis has long been accredited with anti-inflammatory properties. ETH Zurich researchers, however, have now discovered that it is not only the familiar psychoactive substances that are responsible for this; a compound we take in every day in vegetable nutriment also plays a significant role.
People not only rate cannabis sativa L. highly because of its intoxicating effects; it has also long been used as a medicinal plant. Although the plant has been scrutinized for years, surprising new aspects keep cropping up. For example, researchers from ETH Zurich and Bonn University examined a component in the plant’s essential oil that until then had largely been ignored and found it to have remarkable phar- macological effects. The findings open up interesting perspectives, especially for the prevention and treatment of inflammations.
The hemp plant contains over 450 different substances, only three of which are responsible for its intoxicating effect. They activate the two receptors in the body CB1 and CB2. Whilst the CB1 receptor in the central nervous system influences perception, the CB2 receptor in the tissue plays a crucial role in inhibiting inflammation. If the receptor is activated, the cell releases fewer pro-inflammatory signal substances, or cytokines. The scientists have now discovered that the substance beta-carophyllene, which composes between 12 and 35 percent of the cannabis plant’s essential oil, activates the CB2 receptor selectively.”
http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/07/080720222549.htm
Marijuana Has Anti-Inflammatory That Won’t Get You High
“Marijuana supporters have long argued that the plant’s active ingredients, known as cannabinoids, are safe and effective treatments for pain, nausea, and other ailments.
The most active cannabinoid—delta-9-tetrahydrocannabinol, or THC—is known to have anti-inflammatory properties. But it is also responsible for the plant’s psychotropic effects.
Now researchers say that another cannabinoid, called beta-caryophyllene, or (E)-BCP, helps combat inflammation without affecting the brain.
(E)-BCP is already part of many people’s daily diets, the researchers note. Foods that are particularly high in the compound include black pepper, oregano, basil, lime, cinnamon, carrots, and celery.
Essential oils from cannabis plants—whose leaves and flowers are used to make the marijuana drug—contain up to 35 percent (E)-BCP.”
http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2008/06/080624-marijuana.html
Cannabinoids and the immune system: potential for the treatment of inflammatory diseases?
Abstract
“Since the discovery of the cannabinoid receptors and their endogenous ligands, significant advances have been made in studying the physiological function of the endocannabinoid system. The presence of cannabinoid receptors on cells of the immune system and anecdotal and historical evidence suggesting that cannabis use has potent immuno-modulatory effects, has led to research directed at understanding the function and role of these receptors within the context of immunological cellular function. Studies from chronic cannabis smokers have provided much of the evidence for immunomodulatory effects of cannabis in humans, and animal and in vitro studies of immune cells such as T cells and macrophages have also provided important evidence. Cannabinoids can modulate both the function and secretion of cytokines from immune cells. Therefore, cannabinoids may be considered for treatment of inflammatory disease. This review article will highlight recent research on cannabinoids and how they interact with the immune system and also their potential use as therapeutic agents for a number of inflammatory disorders.”