Anti-inflammatory effects of the cannabidiol derivative dimethylheptyl-cannabidiol – studies in BV-2 microglia and encephalitogenic T cells.

“Dimethylheptyl-cannabidiol (DMH-CBD), a non-psychoactive, synthetic derivative of the phytocannabinoid cannabidiol (CBD), has been reported to be anti-inflammatory in RAW macrophages.

Here, we evaluated the effects of DMH-CBD at the transcriptional level in BV-2 microglial cells as well as on the proliferation of encephalitogenic T cells…

The results show that DMH-CBD has similar anti-inflammatory properties to those of CBD.

DMH-CBD downregulates the expression of inflammatory cytokines and protects the microglial cells by inducing an adaptive cellular response against inflammatory stimuli and oxidative injury.”

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/26540221

Activation of Endocannabinoid System Is Associated with Persistent Inflammation in Human Aortic Aneurysm.

“Human aortic aneurysms have been associated with inflammation and vascular remodeling. Since the endocannabinoid system modulates inflammation and tissue remodeling, we investigated its components in human aortic aneurysms…

Our data provides evidence for endocannabinoid system activation in human aortic aneurysms, associated with persistent low-level inflammation and vascular remodeling.”

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/26539497

Transdermal cannabidiol reduces inflammation and pain-related behaviours in a rat model of arthritis.

“Current arthritis treatments often have side-effects attributable to active compounds as well as route of administration.

Cannabidiol(CBD) attenuates inflammation and pain without side-effects…

These data indicate that topical CBD application has therapeutic potential for relief of arthritis pain-related behaviours and inflammation without evident side-effects.”

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/26517407

Alcohol Versus Cannabinoids: A Review of Their Opposite Neuro-Immunomodulatory Effects and Future Therapeutic Potentials.

“Due to the legalization of marijuana and the increased demand for cannabis and alcohol consumption, research efforts highlighting the biomedical consequences of the use of alcohol and cannabinoids are not only relevant to the substance abuse scientific field, but are also of public health interest.

Moreover, an overview of the recent literature about alcohol and cannabinoids neuro-immunomodulatory effects highlighting their future therapeutic potentials will provide a significant contribution to science and medicine.

Therefore, in the current review, we will first discuss briefly the prevalence of alcohol and marijuana abuse, followed by a discussion on the individual effects of alcohol and cannabinoids on the immune system; then, we will focus on the role of endocannabinoids on the alcohol-induced inflammatory effects.

In addition, the review also incorporates cytokine array data obtained from human monocyte-derived dendritic cells, providing a different perspective on the alcohol and cannabinoid abuse divergent effects on cytokine production.

The final section will highlight the therapeutic potential of cannabinoid receptors and the novel strategies to treat alcohol dependence as determined by in vitro, in vivo and clinical studies.”

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/26478902

Cannabinoid Receptor Type 2 Agonist Attenuates Acute Neurogenic Pulmonary Edema by Preventing Neutrophil Migration after Subarachnoid Hemorrhage in Rats.

“We evaluated whether JWH133, a selective cannabinoid type 2 receptor (CB2R) agonist, prevented neurogenic pulmonary edema (NPE) after subarachnoid hemorrhage (SAH) by attenuating inflammation…

CB2R agonist ameliorated lung permeability by inhibiting leukocyte trafficking and protecting tight junction proteins in the lung of NPE after SAH.”

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/26463937

Human lung-resident macrophages express CB1 and CB2 receptors whose activation inhibits the release of angiogenic and lymphangiogenic factors.

“Macrophages are pivotal effector cells in immune responses and tissue remodeling by producing a wide spectrum of mediators, including angiogenic and lymphangiogenic factors.

Activation of cannabinoid receptor types 1 and 2 has been suggested as a new strategy to modulate angiogenesis in vitro and in vivo.

We investigated whether human lung-resident macrophages express a complete endocannabinoid system by assessing their production of endocannabinoids and expression of cannabinoid receptors…

Activation of cannabinoid receptors on tissue-resident macrophages might be a novel strategy to modulate macrophage-assisted vascular remodeling in cancer and chronic inflammation.”

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/26467187

Protection from Radiation-Induced Pulmonary Fibrosis by Peripheral Targeting of Cannabinoid Receptor-1.

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“Radiation-induced pulmonary fibrosis (RIF) is a severe complication of thoracic radiotherapy that limits its dose, intensity, and duration. The contribution of the endocannabinoid signaling system in pulmonary fibrogenesis is not known. Using a well-established mouse model of RIF, we assessed the involvement of cannabinoid receptor-1 (CB1) in the onset and progression of pulmonary fibrosis.

Our results show that CB1 signaling plays a key pathological role in the development of radiation-induced pulmonary inflammation and fibrosis, and peripherally restricted CB1 antagonists may represent a novel therapeutic approach against this devastating complication of radiotherapy/irradiation.”

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/26426981

“We report for the first time the involvement of cannabinoid receptor 1 (CB1)-mediated signaling in the onset and progression of radiation-induced pulmonary fibrosis (RIF). We were able to delay the onset of RIF by genetic targeting of CB1 receptors as well as by its pharmacological inhibition. Thus, pharmacological targeting of CB1 receptors with peripherally restricted CB1 antagonists void of central nervous system complications may represent a novel strategy to prevent the development of RIF.

In summary, we provide the first evidence on the key pathological role of CB1 signaling in radiation-induced pulmonary fibrogenesis and show that peripherally restricted CB1 antagonists may represent a novel therapeutic approach against this devastating and untreatable complication of radiotherapy/irradiation. Our results also suggest that targeting CB1 may provide benefits in other lung diseases associated with inflammation and fibrosis.”

http://www.atsjournals.org/doi/10.1165/rcmb.2014-0331OC

Potential Therapeutical Contributions of the Endocannabinoid System towards Aging and Alzheimer’s Disease.

“Aging can lead to decline in cognition, notably due to neurodegenerative processes overwhelming the brain over time.

As people live longer, numerous concerns are rightfully raised toward long-term slowly incapacitating diseases with no cure, such as Alzheimer’s disease.

Since the early 2000’s, the role of neuroinflammation has been scrutinized for its potential role in the development of diverse neurodegenerative diseases notably because of its slow onset and chronic nature in aging.

Despite the lack of success yet, treatment of chronic neuroinflammation could help alleviate process implicated in neurodegenerative disease.

A growing number of studies including our own have aimed at the endocannabinoid system and unfolded unique effects of this system on neuroinflammation, neurogenesis and hallmarks of Alzheimer’s disease and made it a reasonable target in the context of normal and pathological brain aging.”

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/26425394

Endocannabinoid regulation of amyloid-induced neuroinflammation.

“The modulation of endocannabinoid (EC) levels and the activation of cannabinoid receptors are seen as promising therapeutic strategies in a variety of diseases, including Alzheimer’s disease (AD).

These data reinforce the notion of a role for the EC system in neuroinflammation and open new perspectives on the relevance of modulating EC levels in the inflammed brain.”

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/26362942

Cannabinoid-based drugs targeting CB1 and TRPV1, the sympathetic nervous system, and arthritis.

“Chronic inflammation in rheumatoid arthritis (RA) is accompanied by activation of the sympathetic nervous system, which can support the immune system to perpetuate inflammation. Several animal models of arthritis already demonstrated a profound influence of adrenergic signaling on the course of RA.

Peripheral norepinephrine release from sympathetic terminals is controlled by cannabinoid receptor type 1 (CB1), which is activated by two major endocannabinoids (ECs), arachidonylethanolamine (anandamide) and 2-arachidonylglycerol.

These ECs also modulate function of transient receptor potential channels (TRPs) located on sensory nerve fibers, which are abundant in arthritic synovial tissue. TRPs not only induce the sensation of pain but also support inflammation via secretion of pro-inflammatory neuropeptides.

In addition, many cell types in synovial tissue express CB1 and TRPs.

In this review, we focus on CB1 and transient receptor potential vanilloid 1 (TRPV1)-mediated effects on RA since most anti-inflammatory mechanisms induced by cannabinoids are attributed to cannabinoid receptor type 2 (CB2) activation.

We demonstrate how CB1 agonism or antagonism can modulate arthritic disease.

The concept of functional antagonism with continuous CB1 activation is discussed.

Since fatty acid amide hydrolase (FAAH) is a major EC-degrading enzyme, the therapeutic possibility of FAAH inhibition is studied.

Finally, the therapeutic potential of ECs is examined since they interact with cannabinoid receptors and TRPs but do not produce central side effects.”

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/26343051