“Cannabidiol has received abundant media attention as a potential therapy for intractable epilepsy, based mainly on anecdotal evidence.
These findings suggest that cannabidiol could be exerting its anticonvulsant effects, at least in part, through its actions on voltage-gated sodium channels, and resurgent current may be a promising therapeutic target for the treatment of epilepsy syndromes.”
http://www.epilepsycurrents.org/doi/full/10.5698/1535-7511-16.6.399
“Cannabinoids are widely used to alleviate intractable symptoms such as pain, nausea, and muscle spasticity. The purpose of this review was to ascertain the current state of the science regarding use of cannabinoids for cancer pain.
Eight randomized control trials met the inclusion criteria for review. Most trials found analgesic effects from cannabinoids when compared to placebo, although not all associations reached statistical significance. The analgesic effects of cannabinoids were also limited by dose-dependent side effects. Side effects most commonly reported were changes in cognition, sedation, and dizziness.
There is evidence that cannabinoids are effective adjuvants for cancer pain not completely relieved by opioid therapy, but there is a dearth of high-quality studies to support a stronger conclusion. Cannabinoids appear to be safe in low and medium doses. Methodological limitations of the trials limited the ability to make sound conclusions. Further research is warranted before efficacy, safety, and utility of cannabinoids for cancer pain can be determined.”
“Renal cell carcinoma (RCC) is a common urologic tumor with a poor prognosis.
Cannabinoid receptor 1 (CB1), which is a G protein-coupled receptor, has recently been reported to participate in the genesis and development of various cancers.
However, the exact role of CB1 in RCC is unknown. The aim of this study was to determine the role of CB1 in RCC cell lines and RCC prognosis, thus underlying its potential as a therapeutic target.
CB1 expression is functionally associated to cellular proliferation, apoptosis, and invasion ability of RCC.
Our data suggest that CB1 might be a potential target for RCC clinical therapy.”
“Recent studies suggest an important role for the skeletal endocannabinoid system in the regulation of bone mass in both physiological and pathological conditions. Both major endocannabinoids (anandamid and 2-arachidonoylglycerol), endocannabinoid receptors – CB1-receptor (CB1R) a CB2-receptor (CB2R) and the endocannabinoid metabolizing enzymes are present or expressed in osteoblasts and osteoclasts. Previous studies identified multiple risk and protective variants of CNR2 gene dealing with the relationship to bone density and/or osteoporosis. Selective CB1R/ CB2R-inverse agonists/antagonists and CB2R-inverse agonists/antagonists are candidates for prevention of bone mass loss and combined antiresorptive and anabolic therapy for osteoporosis.”
“Anti-neoplastic activity induced by cannabinoids has been extensively documented for a number of cancer cell types; however, this topic has been explored in gastric cancer cells only in a limited number of approaches.
SIGNIFICANCE:
Through a comparative approach, our results support and confirm the therapeutic potential that cannabinoid receptor agonists exert in gastric cancer cells and open possibilities to use cannabinoids as part of a new gastric cancer therapy.”
“The term “cannabinoids” designates a family of compounds with activity upon cannabinoid receptors.
Cannabinoids are classified in three groups: phytocannabinoids, endocannabinoids, and the synthetic analogues of both groups.
They have become a promising tool in the treatment of cancer disease, not only as palliative agents, but also as antitumor drugs, due to their ability to inhibit the proliferation, adhesion, migration, invasion, and angiogenesis of tumour cells.
Two of the cancers where they have shown high anticancer activity are breast and prostate tumours.
Cannabinoids, in particular the non-psychoactive CBD, may be promising tools in combination therapy for breast and prostate cancer, due to their direct antitumor effects, their ability to improve the efficacy of conventional antitumor drugs and their usefulness as palliative treatment.”
“Fragile X syndrome (FXS) is the most common monogenetic cause of intellectual disability.
The cognitive deficits in the mouse model for this disorder, the Fragile X Mental Retardation 1 (Fmr1) knockout (KO) mouse, have been restored by different pharmacological approaches, among those the blockade of cannabinoid type 1 (CB1) receptor.
In this regard, our previous study showed that the CB1 receptor antagonist/inverse agonist rimonabant normalized a number of core features in the Fmr1 knockout mouse. Rimonabant was commercialized at high doses for its anti-obesity properties, and withdrawn from the market on the bases of mood-related adverse effects.
In this study we show, by using electrophysiological approaches, that low dosages of rimonabant (0.1 mg/kg) manage to normalize metabotropic glutamate receptor dependent long-term depression (mGluR-LTD). In addition, low doses of rimonabant (from 0.01 mg/kg) equally normalized the cognitive deficit in the mouse model of FXS.
These doses of rimonabant were from 30 to 300 times lower than those required to reduce body weight in rodents and to presumably produce adverse effects in humans. Furthermore, NESS0327, a CB1 receptor neutral antagonist, was also effective in preventing the novel object-recognition memory deficit in Fmr1 KO mice.
These data further support targeting CB1 receptors as a relevant therapy for FXS.”
“The endocannabinoid system (ECS) comprises cannabinoid receptors (CBs), endogenous cannabinoids, and enzymes responsible for their synthesis, transport, and degradation of (endo)cannabinoids.
To date, two CBs, CB1 and CB2, have been characterized; however, orphan G-protein-coupled receptor GPR55 has been suggested to be the third putative CB.
Several different types of cancer present abnormal expression of CBs, as well as other components of ECS, and this has been shown to correlate with the clinical outcome.
Although most effects of (endo)cannabinoids are mediated through stimulation of classical CBs, they also interact with several molecules, either prosurvival or proapoptotic molecules.
It should be noted that the mode of action of exogenous cannabinoids differs significantly from that of endocannabinoid and results from the studies on their activity both in vivo and in vitro could not be easily compared.
This review highlights the main signaling pathways involved in the antitumor activity of cannabinoids and the influence of their activation on cancer cell biology.
We also discuss changes in the expression pattern of the ECS in various cancer types that have an impact on disease progression and patient survival.
A growing amount of experimental data imply possible exploitation of cannabinoids in cancer therapy.”
“Alzheimer’s disease (AD) is the most common neurodegenerative disorder, characterized by progressive loss of cognition. Over 35 million individuals currently have AD worldwide. Unfortunately, current therapies are limited to very modest symptomatic relief.
The brains of AD patients are characterized by the deposition of amyloid-β and hyperphosphorylated forms of tau protein. AD brains also show neurodegeneration and high levels of oxidative stress and inflammation.
The phytocannabinoid cannabidiol (CBD) possesses neuroprotective, antioxidant and anti-inflammatory properties and reduces amyloid-β production and tau hyperphosphorylation in vitro.
CBD has also been shown to be effective in vivo making the phytocannabinoid an interesting candidate for novel therapeutic interventions in AD, especially as it lacks psychoactive or cognition-impairing properties.
CBD treatment would be in line with preventative, multimodal drug strategies targeting a combination of pathological symptoms, which might be ideal for AD therapy.
Thus, this review will present a brief introduction to AD biology and current treatment options before outlining comprehensively CBD biology and pharmacology, followed by in-vitro and in-vivo evidence for the therapeutic potential of CBD. We will also discuss the role of the endocannabinioid system in AD before commenting on the potential future of CBD for AD therapy (including safety aspects).”
“The endocannabinoid system (ECS) comprises cannabinoid receptors (CBs), endogenous cannabinoids, and enzymes responsible for their synthesis, transport, and degradation of (endo)cannabinoids.
To date, two CBs, CB1 and CB2, have been characterized; however, orphan G-protein-coupled receptor GPR55 has been suggested to be the third putative CB.
Several different types of cancer present abnormal expression of CBs, as well as other components of ECS, and this has been shown to correlate with the clinical outcome.
Although most effects of (endo)cannabinoids are mediated through stimulation of classical CBs, they also interact with several molecules, either prosurvival or proapoptotic molecules.
It should be noted that the mode of action of exogenous cannabinoids differs significantly from that of endocannabinoid and results from the studies on their activity both in vivo and in vitro could not be easily compared.
This review highlights the main signaling pathways involved in the antitumor activity of cannabinoids and the influence of their activation on cancer cell biology.
We also discuss changes in the expression pattern of the ECS in various cancer types that have an impact on disease progression and patient survival.
A growing amount of experimental data imply possible exploitation of cannabinoids in cancer therapy.”