Marijuana use does not affect the outcomes of bariatric surgery.

 SpringerLink“The decriminalization of marijuana and legalization of derived products requires investigation of their effect on healthcare-related outcomes. Unfortunately, little data are available on the impact of marijuana use on surgical outcomes.

We aimed to determine the effect of marijuana use on 30-day complications and 1-year weight loss following laparoscopic Roux-en-Y gastric bypass (LRYGB) and laparoscopic sleeve gastrectomy (LSG).

RESULTS:

Excess BMI lost did not differ between marijuana users and controls at 3 weeks (23.0% vs 18.9%, p = 0.095), 3 months (42.0% vs 38.1%, p = 0.416), 6 months (60.6% vs 63.1%, p = 0.631), 1 year (78.2% vs 77.3%, p = 0.789), or 2 years (89.1% vs 74.5%, p = 0.604). No differences in the rate of major 30-day postoperative complications, including readmission, infection, thromboembolic events, bleeding events and reoperation rates, were found between groups. Follow-up rate at two years was lower in marijuana users (12.3% vs 27.4%, p = 0.023).

CONCLUSION:

This study suggests marijuana use has no impact on 30-day complications or weight loss following bariatric surgery, and should not be a contraindication to bariatric surgery.”

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/32166550

https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007%2Fs00464-020-07497-5

Cannabinoids Improve Gastrointestinal Symptoms in a Parenteral Nutrition-Dependent Patient With Chronic Intestinal Pseudo-Obstruction.

Journal of Parenteral and Enteral Nutrition“Chronic intestinal pseudo-obstruction (CIPO) is a rare and challenging cause of pediatric intestinal failure, requiring long-term parenteral nutrition in most cases. Despite optimal management, some patients experience chronic abdominal pain and recurrent obstructive episodes with a major impact on their quality of life.

Cannabinoids have been successfully used in some conditions. However, their use in CIPO has never been reported in the literature.

We report a case of successful use of medicinal cannabinoids in a patient with CIPO, resulting in a significant reduction of abdominal pain, vomiting, and subocclusive episodes and increased appetite and weight, without major adverse events.

Although further observations are required to consolidate these findings, this case may be helpful for other patients suffering from the same condition.”

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/32181915

https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1002/jpen.1821

Cannabis and the Cornea.

Publication Cover

“While cannabis has the potential to reduce corneal pain, cannabinoids might induce side effects. This review article examines the effects of cannabinoids on the cornea. As more states and countries consider the legalization of adult cannabis use, health-care providers will need to identify ocular effects of cannabis consumption.

Methods: Studies included in this review examined the connection between cannabis and the cornea, more specifically anti-nociceptive and anti-inflammatory actions of cannabinoids. NCBI Databases from 1781 up to December 2019 were consulted.

Conclusion: More than half of the studies examined the therapeutic effects of cannabinoids on the cornea. As the field is still young, more studies should be conducted to develop safe cannabinoid treatments for corneal diseases.

Antinociceptive and Immune Effects of Delta-9-tetrahydrocannabinol or Cannabidiol in Male Versus Female Rats with Persistent Inflammatory Pain.

Journal of Pharmacology and Experimental Therapeutics: 373 (1)

“Chronic pain is the most common reason reported for using medical cannabis.

The goal of this research was to determine if the two primary phytocannabinoids, THC and CBD, are effective treatments for persistent inflammatory pain.

These results suggest that THC may be more beneficial than CBD for reducing inflammatory pain, in that THC maintains its efficacy with short-term treatment in both sexes, and does not induce immune activation.

SIGNIFICANCE STATEMENT: CBDs and THCs pain-relieving effects are examined in male and female rats with persistent inflammatory pain to determine if individual phytocannabinoids could be a viable treatment for men and women with chronic inflammatory pain. Additionally, sex differences in the immune response to an adjuvant and to THC and CBD are characterized to provided preliminary insight into immune-related effects of cannabinoid-based therapy for pain.”

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/32179573

http://jpet.aspetjournals.org/content/early/2020/03/16/jpet.119.263319

Cannabidiol attenuates behavioral changes in a rodent model of schizophrenia through 5-HT1A, but not CB1 and CB2 receptors.

Pharmacological Research“Preclinical and clinical data indicate that cannabidiol (CBD), a non-psychotomimetic compound from the Cannabis sativa plant, can induce antipsychotic-like effects.

These data suggest that CBD induces antipsychotic-like effects by activating 5-HT1A receptors and indicate that this compound could be an interesting alternative for the treatment of negative and cognitive symptoms of schizophrenia.”

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/32151683

https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S1043661819315439?via%3Dihub

Evaluation of pharmacokinetics and acute anti-inflammatory potential of two oral cannabidiol preparations in healthy adults.

Phytotherapy Research“Cannabidiol (CBD) is a dietary supplement with numerous purported health benefits and an expanding commercial market. Commercially available CBD preparations range from tinctures, oils, and powders, to foods and beverages.

Despite widespread use, information regarding bioavailability of these formulations is limited. The purpose of this study was to test the bioavailability of two oral formulations of CBD in humans and explore their potential acute anti-inflammatory activity.

This study provides pilot data for designing and powering future studies to establish the anti-inflammatory potential and bioavailability of a larger variety of commercial CBD products consumed by humans.”

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/32147925

https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1002/ptr.6651

High expectations: The landscape of clinical trials of medical marijuana in oncology.

Complementary Therapies in Medicine“Given the infancy and evolving complexity of medicinal marijuana, an evolving political landscape, and the growing frequency of its use in cancer care, it is important for oncologists to be actively engaged in developing and successfully implementing clinical trials focusing on medical marijuana.

The purpose of this study was to analyze and evaluate trends in clinical trials focused on medical marijuana in oncology.

CONCLUSION:

Our results indicate that across oncology, there is growing interest in clinical research in the use of medical marijuana.”

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/32147080

https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0965229919309306?via%3Dihub

What Do You Know About Maryjane? A Systematic Review of the Current Data on the THC:CBD Ratio.

Publication Cover“Ratios of delta-9-tetrahydrocannabinol (THC) and cannabidiol (CBD) impact metabolism and therapeutic effects of cannabis.

The medical and scientific communities have not drawn substantive conclusions nor thoroughly explored THC:CBD ratios for “best practice” treatment of different disease processes and their sequelae.

While there is evidence that cannabis provides medical benefits, research is lacking on standardization of medical cannabis use in modern medical practices.”

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/32124675

The effects of cannabinoids on glioblastoma growth: A systematic review with meta-analysis of animal model studies.

European Journal of Pharmacology“Glioblastoma multiforme (GBM) is the most frequent and aggressive malignant brain tumour, with a poor prognosis despite available surgical and radio-chemotherapy, rising the necessity for searching alternative therapies. Several preclinical studies evaluating the efficacy of cannabinoids in animal models of GBM have been described, but the diversity of experimental conditions and of outcomes hindered definitive conclusions about cannabinoids efficacy.

A search in different databases (Pubmed, Web of Science, Scopus and SciELO) was conducted during June 2019 to systematically identify publications evaluating the effects of cannabinoids in murine xenografts models of GBM. The tumour volume and number of animals were extracted, being a random effects meta-analysis of these results performed to estimate the efficacy of cannabinoids. The impact of different experimental factors and publication bias on the efficacy of cannabinoids was also assessed. Nine publications, which satisfied the inclusion criteria, were identified and subdivided in 22 studies involving 301 animals.

Overall, cannabinoid therapy reduced the fold of increase in tumour volume in animal models of GBM, when compared with untreated controls. The overall weighted standardized difference in means (WSDM) for the effect of cannabinoids was -1.399 (95% CI: -1.900 to -0.898; P-value<0.0001). Furthermore, treatment efficacy was observed for different types of cannabinoids, alone or in combination, and for different treatment durations.

Cannabinoid therapy was still effective after correcting for publication bias. The results indicate that cannabinoids reduce the tumour growth in animal models of GBM, even after accounting for publication bias.”

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/32145324

https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0014299920301473?via%3Dihub

Is cannabidiol a drug acting on unconventional targets to control drug-resistant epilepsy?

Publication cover image“Cannabis has been considered as a therapeutic strategy to control intractable epilepsy.

Several cannabis components, especially cannabidiol (CBD), induce antiseizure effects. However, additional information is necessary to identify the types of epilepsies that can be controlled by these components and the mechanisms involved in these effects.

This review presents a summary of the discussion carried out during the 2nd Latin American Workshop on Neurobiology of Epilepsy entitled “Cannabinoid and epilepsy: myths and realities.” This event was carried out during the 10th Latin American Epilepsy Congress in San José de Costa Rica (September 28, 2018).

The review focuses to discuss the use of CBD as a new therapeutic strategy to control drug-resistant epilepsy. It also indicates the necessity to consider the evaluation of unconventional targets such as P-glycoprotein, to explain the effects of CBD in drug-resistant epilepsy.”

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/32140642

“Cannabidiol is a multitarget drug that represents a new hope to control drug‐resistant epilepsy.”

https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1002/epi4.12376