“Cannabis plant extracts could potentially form the basic ingredients for a market-leading diabetes drug, the scientist who developed a former world-beating treatment for the condition believes…
“There really have been relatively few developments in finding new diabetes drug treatments… This new approach might be more productive in answering the unmet clinical need.””
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“Regular users of the drug found to have lower levels of insulin after fasting, research shows. Smoking cannabis may prevent the development of diabetes, one of the most rapidly rising chronic disorders in the world.
If the link is proved, it could lead to the development of treatments based on the active ingredient of cannabis, tetrahydrocannabinol (THC), without its intoxicating effects.”
“Crohn’s disease and ulcerative colitis are two major forms of inflammatory bowel diseases (IBD), which are chronic inflammatory disorders of the gastrointestinal tract. These pathologies are currently under investigation to both unravel their etiology and find novel treatments.
Anandamide and 2-arachidonoylglycerol are endogenous bioactive lipids that bind to and activate the cannabinoid receptors, and together with the enzymes responsible for their biosynthesis and degradation [fatty acid amide hydrolase (FAAH) and monoacylglycerol lipase (MAGL)] constitute the endocannabinoid system (ECS).
The ECS is implicated in gut homeostasis, modulating gastrointestinal motility, visceral sensation, and inflammation, as well as being recently implicated in IBD pathogenesis.
Numerous subsequent studies investigating the effects of cannabinoid agonists and endocannabinoid degradation inhibitors in rodent models of IBD have identified a potential therapeutic role for the ECS.”
“Nuvilex, Inc. (OTCQB:NVLX), international biotechnology and clinical stage provider of natural products and cell and gene therapy solutions for the treatment of diseases, announced today its subsidiary, Medical Marijuana Sciences, Inc., is planning to develop treatments for pancreatic cancer based on cannabinoids from Cannabis sativa.
In 2006, in a publication in the prestigious scientific journal Cancer Research, cannabinoids were reported to cause the death of pancreatic cells in laboratory and animal studies; these results were also seen with human pancreatic cancer cells implanted in mice whose immune systems were suppressed. Since then, laboratory studies have shown that when gemcitabine (Gemzar®), the only drug approved by the FDA as a single agent for the treatment of advanced pancreatic cancer, was combined with three different cannabinoids (each used singly), the growth inhibition was more than additive for six different pancreatic cancer cell lines. When these studies were done with human pancreatic cancer cells in immunosuppressed mice, the antitumor effectiveness of gemcitabine was greatly enhanced. These results, combined with those from other studies not mentioned here, indicate the important potential for developing treatments for pancreatic cancer that include the use of cannabinoids.”
Research project head Prof. Ruth Djaldetti, a senior physician in the neurology department and head of the movement disorders clinic, said that the results support the treatment of Parkinson’s patients with medical marijuana.
Djaldetti encourages more research into the use of cannabis for pain relief.
There are some 20,000 people with Parkinson’s in Israel, and about 50 percent to 80% of them suffer from this previously unexplained and untreated pain. Djaldetti expects that in the future, gene mapping will make it possible to suit personalized medication to these patients.”
“Cannabis has been used recreationally and for medicinal purposes for centuries, yet its 60 plus active components are only partly understood. Now scientists have discovered how a compound in cannabis can help cells to function in our bodies, and aid recovery after a damaging event.
In a paper published in the Journal of Neuroscience, the researchers report on their studies into cannabidiol – a naturally occurring molecule found in cannabis.
Also known as CBD, it is not the constituent that gives the high – that compound is called tetrahydrocannabinol or THC – and so may be more acceptable as a drug treatment.
Both compounds are currently used in a pharmaceutical medicine to help patients relieve pain and other symptoms of Multiple Sclerosis.
Now researchers have discovered how CBD actually works within brain cells.
By interacting with mitochondria – which are the power generators of all cells – it can help maintain normal levels of calcium allowing cells to function properly and providing a greater resistance to damage.
Disturbance of calcium levels has long been associated with a number of brain disorders. So the finding could have implications for the development of new treatments for disorders related to malfunctioning mitochondria.
Dr Bettina Platt, from the University’s School of Medical Sciences, said: “Scientists have known for a long time that cannabidiol can help with pain relief but we never really knew how it worked.
“However we have discovered what it actually does at the cellular level.
“We are hoping that our findings can instruct the development of cannabidiol based treatments for disorders related to mitochondrial dysfunction such as Parkinson’s disease or Huntington’s disease.”
“The last decade has witnessed remarkable progress in the understanding of the mammalian cannabinoid system, from the cloning of the endogenous cannabinoid receptor to the discovery of new pharmacologic compounds acting on this receptor. Current and planned studies in humans include compounds with effects ranging from direct antagonists to inhibitors of reuptake and breakdown. This progress has been accompanied by a much greater understanding of the role of the cannabinoid system in modulating the neural circuitry that mediates anxiety and fear responses. This review focuses on the neural circuitry and pharmacology of the cannabinoid system as it relates to the acquisition, expression, and extinction of conditioned fear as a model of human anxiety.
Preclinical studies suggest that these may provide important emerging targets for new treatments of anxiety disorders.
The last decade has witnessed an enormous amount of progress in the understanding of the molecular biology, physiology, pharmacology, and behavioral neuroscience underlying the endogenous cannabinoid system. These receptors and their ligands have ubiquitous roles ranging from appetite and pain response to modulation of fear and anxiety. A burgeoning understanding of their roles in regulating the extinction of fear responses may lead to a particularly important role in translation of the preclinical research to novel treatments of anxiety disorders.”
“Cannabinoids have long been shown to have a range of potential therapeutic effects, including antiemetic actions, analgesia, and anxiolysis. These data indicate that elevation of AEA or 2-AG reduces marble burying behavior and suggest that their catabolic enzymes represent potential targets for the development of new classes of pharmacotherapeutics to treat anxiety-related disorders.
Marijuana is commonly smoked to reduce feelings of stress and anxiety… much interest has been generated by the discovery of the endogenous cannabinoid (i.e. endocannabinoid; eCB) system as a source of targets for the development of new therapeutic treatments of a range of ailments including anxiety and depression…”
“New cannabis-based treatments could improve memory loss in Alzheimer’s sufferers, scientists claim.
One of the 400 compounds in the drug can significantly slow memory problems caused by the disease, tests show.”
“Specific treatments for Alzheimer’s disease (AD) were first introduced in the 1990s using the acetyl-cholinesterase inhibitors. More recently, the N-methyl-D-aspartate (NMDA) antagonist memantine has become available. Although these treatments do provide a modest improvement in the cognitive abnormalities present in AD, their pharmacology is based on manipulation of neurotransmitter systems, and there is no compelling evidence that they interfere with the underlying pathogenic process. Pathologic and genetic data have led to the hypothesis that a peptide called amyloid ss(Abeta) plays a primary role in the pathophysiology of AD. Several investigational therapies targeting Abeta are now undergoing clinical trials. This paper reviews the available data regarding Abeta-directed therapies that are in the clinic and summarizes the approach to biomarkers and clinical trial designs that can provide evidence of modification of the underlying disease process.”