“Cannabis and its pharmacologically active constituents, phytocannabinoids, have long been reported to have multiple medicinal benefits.
One association often reported by users is sedation and subjective improvements in sleep.
Many of the reviewed studies suggested that cannabinoids could improve sleep quality, decrease sleep disturbances, and decrease sleep onset latency.”
“Endocannabinoids acting on the cannabinoid-1 receptor (CB1R) or ghrelin acting on its receptor (GHS-R1A) both promote alcohol-seeking behavior, but an interaction between the two signaling systems has not been explored. Here, we report that the peripheral CB1R inverse agonist JD5037 reduces ethanol drinking in wild-type mice but not in mice lacking CB1R, ghrelin peptide or GHS-R1A. JD5037 treatment of alcohol-drinking mice inhibits the formation of biologically active octanoyl-ghrelin without affecting its inactive precursor desacyl-ghrelin. In ghrelin-producing stomach cells, JD5037 reduced the level of the substrate octanoyl-carnitine generated from palmitoyl-carnitine by increasing fatty acid β-oxidation. Blocking gastric vagal afferents abrogated the ability of either CB1R or GHS-R1A blockade to reduce ethanol drinking. We conclude that blocking CB1R in ghrelin-producing cells reduces alcohol drinking by inhibiting the formation of active ghrelin and its signaling via gastric vagal afferents. Thus, peripheral CB1R blockade may have therapeutic potential in the treatment of alcoholism.”
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/31105045
https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1550413119301962?via%3Dihub
“Despite the staggering consequences of the opioid epidemic, limited nonopioid medication options have been developed to treat this medical and public health crisis.
This study investigated the potential of cannabidiol (CBD), a nonintoxicating phytocannabinoid, to reduce cue-induced craving and anxiety, two critical features of addiction that often contribute to relapse and continued drug use, in drug-abstinent individuals with heroin use disorder.
Acute CBD administration, in contrast to placebo, significantly reduced both craving and anxiety induced by the presentation of salient drug cues compared with neutral cues. CBD also showed significant protracted effects on these measures 7 days after the final short-term (3-day) CBD exposure. In addition, CBD reduced the drug cue–induced physiological measures of heart rate and salivary cortisol levels. There were no significant effects on cognition, and there were no serious adverse effects.
CBD’s potential to reduce cue-induced craving and anxiety provides a strong basis for further investigation of this phytocannabinoid as a treatment option for opioid use disorder.”
https://ajp.psychiatryonline.org/doi/10.1176/appi.ajp.2019.18101191
“We conducted a responsibility analysis to determine whether drivers injured in motor vehicle collisions who test positive for Δ-9-tetrahydrocannabinol (THC) or other drugs are more likely to have contributed to the crash than those who test negative.
In this sample of non-fatally injured motor vehicle drivers in British Columbia, Canada, there was no evidence of increased crash risk in drivers with THC<5ng/mL and a statistically non-significant increased risk of crash responsibility (OR=1.74) in drivers with THC≥5ng/mL.”
“Studies suggest that the endocannabinoid and endovanilloid systems are implicated in the pathophysiology of schizophrenia.
The Spontaneously Hypertensive Rats (SHR) strain displays impaired contextual fear conditioning (CFC) attenuated by antipsychotic drugs and worsened by pro-psychotic manipulations. Therefore, SHR strain is used to study emotional processing/associative learning impairments associated with schizophrenia and effects of potential antipsychotic drugs.
Here, we evaluated the expression of CB1 and TRPV1 receptors in some brain regions related to the pathophysiology of schizophrenia. We also assessed the effects of drugs that act on the endocannabinoid/endovanilloid systems on the CFC task in SHRs and control animals (Wistar rats – WRs).
These results reinforce the involvement of the endocannabinoid/endovanilloid systems in the SHRs CFC deficit and point to these systems as targets to treat the emotional processing/cognitive symptoms of schizophrenia.”
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/31103618
https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0028390819301649?via%3Dihub
“Finding a therapy for Alzheimer’s disease (AD) is perhaps the greatest challenge for modern medicine. The chemical scaffolds of many drugs in the clinic today are based upon natural products from plants, yet Cannabis has not been extensively examined as a source of potential AD drug candidates.
Here, we determine if a number of non-psychoactive cannabinoids are neuroprotective in a novel pre-clinical AD and neurodegeneration drug-screening platform that is based upon toxicities associated with the aging brain.
This drug discovery paradigm has yielded several compounds in or approaching clinical trials for AD. Eleven cannabinoids were assayed for neuroprotection in assays that recapitulate proteotoxicity, loss of trophic support, oxidative stress, energy loss, and inflammation. These compounds were also assayed for their ability to remove intraneuronal amyloid and subjected to a structure-activity relationship analysis. Pairwise combinations were assayed for their ability to synergize to produce neuroprotective effects that were greater than additive.
Nine of the 11 cannabinoids have the ability to protect cells in four distinct phenotypic neurodegeneration screening assays, including those using neurons that lack CB1 and CB2 receptors. They are able to remove intraneuronal Aβ, reduce oxidative damage, and protect from the loss of energy or trophic support. Structure-activity relationship (SAR) data show that functional antioxidant groups such as aromatic hydroxyls are necessary but not sufficient for neuroprotection. Therefore, there is a need to focus upon CB1 agonists that have these functionalities if neuroprotection is the goal.
Pairwise combinations of THC and CBN lead to a synergistic neuroprotective interaction.
Together, these results significantly extend the published data by showing that non-psychoactive cannabinoids are potential lead drug candidates for AD and other neurodegenerative diseases.”
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/31104297
https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007%2Fs12035-019-1637-8
“In this review, we discuss the role of the endocannabinoid (eCB) system in regulating energy and metabolic homeostasis. Endocannabinoids, via activating the cannabinoid type-1 receptor (CB1R), are commonly known as mediators of the thrifty phenotype hypothesis due to their activity in the central nervous system, which in turn regulates food intake and underlies the development of metabolic syndrome. Indeed, these findings led to the clinical testing of globally acting CB1R blockers for obesity and various metabolic complications. However, their therapeutic potential was halted due to centrally mediated adverse effects. Recent observations that highlighted the key role of the peripheral eCB system in metabolic regulation led to the preclinical development of various novel compounds that block CB1R only in peripheral organs with very limited brain penetration and without causing behavioral side effects. These unique molecules, which effectively ameliorate obesity, type II diabetes, fatty liver, insulin resistance, and chronic kidney disease in several animal models, are likely to be further developed in the clinic and may revive the therapeutic potential of blocking CB1R once again.”
“Neuropathic pain can develop after nerve injury, leading to a chronic condition with spontaneous pain and hyperalgesia.
Pain is typically restricted to the side of the injured nerve, but may occasionally spread to the contralateral side, a condition that is often referred to as mirror-image pain.
Mechanisms leading to mirror-image pain are not completely understood, but cannabinoid CB2 receptors have been implicated.
In this study, we use genetic mouse models to address the question if CB2 receptors on neurons or on microglia/macrophages are involved.
We conclude that CB2 receptors on microglia and macrophages, but not on neurons, modulate neuropathic pain responses.”
“Cannabinoid compounds are potential analgesics. Users of medicinal Cannabis report efficacy for pain control, clinical studies show that cannabis can be effective and opioid sparing in chronic pain, and some constituent cannabinoids have been shown to target nociceptive ion channels. Here, we explore and compare a suite of cannabinoids for their impact upon the physiology of TRPV1. The cannabinoids tested evoke differential responses in terms of kinetics of activation and inactivation. Cannabinoid activation of TRPV1 displays significant dependence on internal and external calcium levels. Cannabinoid activation of TRPV1 does not appear to induce the highly permeant, pore-dilated channel state seen with Capsaicin, even at high current amplitudes. Finally, we analyzed cannabinoid responses at nocioceptive channels other than TRPV1 (TRPV2, TRPM8 and TRPA1), and report that cannabinoids differentially activate these channels. On the basis of response activation and kinetics, state-selectivity and receptor selectivity, it may be possible to rationally design approaches to pain using single or multiple cannabinoids.”
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/31096838
https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/19336950.2019.1619436
“Recent evidence suggests that 2-week treatment with the non-psychotomimetic cannabinoid cannabidivarin (CBDV) could be beneficial towards neurological and social deficits in early symptomatic Mecp2 mutant mice, a model of Rett syndrome (RTT). The aim of this study was to provide further insights into the efficacy of CBDV in Mecp2-null mice using a lifelong treatment schedule to evaluate its effect on recognition memory and neurological defects in both early and advanced stages of the phenotype progression. CBDV rescues recognition memory deficits in Mecp2 mutant mice and delays the appearance of neurological defects. CBDV administration exerts an enduring rescue of memory deficits in Mecp2 mutant mice. CBDV delays neurological defects but this effect is only transient.” https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/31084246
“Chronic treatment with the phytocannabinoid Cannabidivarin (CBDV) rescues behavioural alterations and brain atrophy in a mouse model of Rett syndrome.” https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/30056123