“The nonpsychoactive phytocannabinoid, CBD, was recently approved by the Food and Drug Administration for the treatment of children with drug-resistant epilepsy. This milestone opens new avenues for cannabinoid research. In this Viewpoint, we provide an overview of recent progress in the field highlighting molecular insights into CBD’s mechanism of action, as well as its therapeutic potential.”
“Cannabidiol (CBD), the non-psychoactive component of Cannabis sativa, acts on a diverse selection of membrane proteins with promising therapeutic potential in epilepsy and chronic pain. In this review, we will outline the studies that report reproducible results of CBD and other cannabinoids changing membrane channel function, with particular interest on Nav. Nav are implicated in fatal forms of epilepsy and are also associated with chronic pain. This makes Nav potential targets for CBD interaction since it has been reported to reduce pain and seizures. This discovery will not only prompt further research towards CBD’s characterization, but also promotes the application of cannabinoids as potentially therapeutic compounds for diseases like epilepsy and pain.” https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/31088312
https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/19336950.2019.1615824
“Vulvodynia is a remarkably prevalent chronic pain condition of unknown etiology.
Therapeutic intra-vaginal administration of Δ9-tetrahydrocannabinol (THC) reduced mast cell accumulation and tactile sensitivity.
Mast cell-targeted therapeutic strategies may therefore provide new ways to manage and treat vulvar pain potentially instigated by repeated allergenic exposures.”
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/31052404
https://www.mdpi.com/1422-0067/20/9/2163
“Diabetes mellitus is a complex, multifactorial disorder that is attributed to pancreatic β cell dysfunction. Pancreatic β cell dysfunction results in declining utilization of glucose by peripheral tissues as kidney and it leads to nephropathy. Excessive production and accumulation of free radicals and incapable antioxidant defense system lead to impaired redox status. Macromolecular damage may occur due to impaired redox status and also immune imbalance.
Δ9-Tetrahydrocannabinol (THC) is the main active ingredient in cannabis. THC acts as an immunomodulator and an antioxidant agent.
Our aim was to evaluate the effects of THC in the diabetic kidney.
According to our data, THC has ameliorative effects on the impaired redox status of diabetic kidney and also it acts as an immunomodulator. Therefore, THC might be used as a therapeutic agent for diabetic kidneys but its usage in the healthy kidney may show adverse effects.”
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/31081965
https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1002/jcb.28903
“Pot Won’t Harm Healthy Young People’s Kidneys, Study Suggests” https://www.medicinenet.com/script/main/art.asp?articlekey=206375
“The orphan G-protein coupled receptor (GPCR), GPR18, has been recently proposed as a potential member of the cannabinoid family as it recognizes several endogenous, phytogenic, and synthetic cannabinoids. Potential therapeutic applications for GPR18 include intraocular pressure, metabolic disorders, and cancer. GPR18 has been reported to have high constitutive activity, i.e., activation/signaling occurs in the absence of an agonist. This activity can be reduced significantly by the A3.39N mutation. At the intracellular (IC) ends of (transmembrane helices) TMH3 and TMH6 in GPCRs, typically, a pair of oppositely charged amino acids form a salt bridge called the “ionic lock”. Breaking of this salt bridge creates an IC opening for coupling with G protein. The GPR18 “ionic lock” residues (R3.50/S6.33) can form only a hydrogen bond. In this paper, we test the hypothesis that the high constitutive activity of GPR18 is due to the weakness of its “ionic lock” and that the A3.39N mutation strengthens this lock. To this end, we report molecular dynamics simulations of wild-type (WT) GPR18 and the A3.39N mutant in fully hydrated (POPC) phophatidylcholine lipid bilayers. Results suggest that in the A3.39N mutant, TMH6 rotates and brings R3.50 and S6.33 closer together, thus strengthening the GPR18 “ionic lock”.”
“Cannabidiol, a major non-psychotomimetic compound derived from Cannabis sativa, is a potential therapeutic agent for a variety of diseases such as inflammatory diseases, chronic neurodegenerative diseases, and cancers.
Here, we found that the combination of cannabidiol and TNF-related apoptosis-inducing ligand (TRAIL) produces synergistic antitumor effects in vitro. However, this synergistic effect was not observed in normal colonic cells. The levels of ER stress-related proteins, including C/EBP homologous protein (CHOP) and phosphorylated protein kinase RNA-like ER kinase (PERK) were increased in treatment of cannabidiol.
Cannabidiol enhanced significantly DR5 expression by ER stress. Knockdown of DR5 decreased the combined effect of cannabidioland TRAIL. Additionally, the combination of TRAIL and cannabidiol decreased tumor growth in xenograft models.
Our studies demonstrate that cannabidiol enhances TRAIL-induced apoptosis by upregulating DR5 and suggests that cannabidiol is a novel agent for increasing sensitivity to TRAIL.”
“Fragile X Syndrome is a neurodevelopmental disorder which affects intellectual, social and physical development due to mutation of the Fragile X mental retardation 1 (FMR1) gene. The resultant loss of Fragile X mental retardation protein can be modelled by Fmr1 gene knockout (KO) in mice.
The current study investigated the behavioural effects of cannabidiol (CBD; a non-psychoactive phytocannabinoid) in male Fmr1 KO mice as a preclinical model for therapeutic discovery.
Overall, acute CBD at the doses chosen did not selectively normalize behavioural abnormalities in Fmr1 KO mice, but reduced anxiety-like behaviour in both Fmr1 KO and WT mice.” https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/31063743
“Acute cannabidiol (CBD) decreased anxiety-related behaviours in both Fmr1 knockout mice and wildtype controls in the elevated plus maze. Fmr1 KO mice were hyperlocomotive, showed fewer anxiety-related behaviours and habituated more slowly to a novel environment than controls. Acute CBD had no impact on locomotion, spatial working memory or fear-associated memory in Fmr1 knockout mice or controls.” https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0091305718306464?via%3Dihub
“Individuals with alcohol use disorder exhibit compulsive habitual behaviors that are thought to be, in part, a consequence of chronic and persistent use of alcohol.
The endocannabinoid system plays a critical role in habit learning and in ethanol self-administration, but the role of this neuromodulatory system in the expression of habitual alcohol seeking is unknown.
Here, we investigated the role of the endocannabinoid system in established alcohol habits using contingency degradation in male C57BL/6 mice.
These results demonstrate an important role for endocannabinoid signaling in the motivation to seek ethanol, in ethanol-motivated habits, and suggest that pharmacological manipulations of endocannabinoid signaling could be effective therapeutics for treating alcohol use disorder.”
IMPLICATIONS FOR NURSING PRACTICE: Understanding the endocannabinoid system, cannabinoids, terpenes, routes of administration, potential drug interactions, clinical implications, and potential side effects ensures nurses can better assist patients who use cannabis for the treatment of cancer pain.”
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/31053395
https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0749208119300609?via%3Dihub
“Cannabis oils, namely concentrated cannabis extracts, are getting plenty of attention because of their therapeutic potential for treatment of patients with cancer, HIV, multiple sclerosis and several other pathologies. Here we propose the use of ultrasound-assisted extraction (UAE) and microwave-assisted extraction (MAE) as alternative methods to the current protocols followed by pharmacists, the only authorized to manipulate standardized Cannabis. A third method, consisting of the use of Tween 20 as surfactant, was considered. Our best extraction methodology for commercial hemp extraction was applied to medicinal cannabis. Here we report the results obtained for ‘Eletta campana’, ‘Carmagnola selezionata’, Bediol®, FM2® and Bedrocan®.”
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/31035854
https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/14786419.2019.1601194?journalCode=gnpl20