“A small body of work has started developing cannabis use “typologies” for use in treatment and prevention.
Two potentially relevant dimensions for classifying cannabis use typologies are medical versus recreational cannabis use and the co-use of cannabis and alcohol.
Here we compare alcohol use and related problems between cannabis users with and without medical cannabis recommendations.
“Cannabis exerts its psychoactive effect through cannabinoid receptors that are widely distributed across the cortical surface of the human brain. It is suggested that cannabis use may contribute to structural alterations across the cortical surface.
In a large, multisite dataset of 120 controls and 141 cannabis users, we examined whether differences in key characteristics of the cortical surface – including cortical thickness, surface area, and gyrification index were related to cannabis use characteristics, including (i) cannabis use vs. non-use, (ii) cannabis dependence vs. non-dependence vs. non-use, and (iii) early adolescent vs. late adolescent onset of cannabis use vs. non-use.
Our results revealed that cortical morphology was not associated with cannabis use, dependence, or onset age.
The lack of effect of regular cannabis use, including problematic use, on cortical structure in our study is contrary to previous evidence of cortical morphological alterations (particularly in relation to cannabis dependence and cannabis onset age) in cannabis users.
Careful reevaluation of the evidence on cannabis-related harm will be necessary to address concerns surrounding the long-term effects of cannabis use and inform policies in a changing cannabis regulation climate.”
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/30558823
https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0924977X18319874?via%3Dihub
“Perinatal asphyxia remains a major cause of both mortality and neurological morbidity. Neonatal encephalopathy affects to 1-3/1,000 newborns, leading to significant brain damage and childhood disability.
The only standard therapy is moderate hypothermia, whose efficacy, despite proved, is limited, being partially effective.
“Hempseed has achieved a growing popularity in human nutrition, particularly regarding essential amino acids and fatty acids. The multiple positive attributes of hempseed have led to the further study of its constituents.
In this study, hempseed extract containing phenylpropionamides (TPA) was obtained and its chemical profile and content were obtained using high-performance liquid chromatography technology based on previous study.
The anti-neuroinflammatory effect of TPA extract was evaluated using a lipopolysaccharide (LPS)-induced mouse model. Fourteen phenylpropionamides (TPA) were identified in the obtained extract with a total content of 233.52 ± 2.50 μg/mg extract.
In mice, TPA prevented the learning and spatial memory damage induced by LPS. Increased brain levels of IL-1β, IL-6, and TNF-α in the LPS-induced mice were reduced by TPA treatment. Furthermore, TPA attenuated LPS-induced hippocampal neuronal damage in mice.
This study demonstrates the nutraceutical potential of hempseed from a neuroprotective perspective.”
“To characterize the socio-demographic characteristics, medical conditions, and psychiatric comorbidities of users of marijuana for medical and non-medical purposes.
In relation to non-medical only users (n = 3339), combined (n = 362) and medical only (n = 82) users had higher prevalence of every medical condition examined. As compared to the combined use group, those using marijuana only for medical purposes were much less likely to have anxiety, alcohol, or non-medical prescription opioid use disorders.
Medical-only users appear to use it for evidence-based medical reasons and have lower prevalence of substance use disorder than other marijuana users. Nonetheless, because most medical marijuana users also use non-medically, screening for psychiatric disorders and prevention efforts for cannabis use disorder should be implemented when authorizing medical marijuana.”
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/30557813
https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0376871618305660?via%3Dihub
Nabiximols was well tolerated, and no participants withdrew from the double-blind phase of the study. No serious adverse effects occurred.
In this proof-of-concept trial, nabiximols had a positive effect on spasticity symptoms in patients with motor neuron disease and had an acceptable safety and tolerability profile.”
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/30554828
https://www.thelancet.com/journals/laneur/article/PIIS1474-4422(18)30406-X/fulltext
“Medicolegal realities surrounding “medical marijuana” or “medical cannabis” are rapidly evolving in the United States. Clinicians are increasingly being asked by patients to share information about or certify them for medical cannabis. In order to engage in informed discussions with patients or be comfortable certifying them in states with medical cannabis laws, clinicians may benefit from an understanding of the current state of medical knowledge about medical cannabis. Intended for the generalist and subspecialist, this review provides an overview of the legal status, pharmacology, benefits, risks, and abuse liability of medical cannabis along with a general framework for counseling patients.”
“The endocannabinoids anandamide (AEA) and 2-arachidonoylglyerol (2-AG) are endogenous lipid mediators that exert protective roles in pathophysiological conditions, including cardiovascular diseases. In this brief review, we provide a conceptual framework linking endocannabinoid signaling to the control of the cellular and molecular hallmarks, and categorize the key components of endocannabinoid signaling that may serve as targets for novel therapeutics. The emerging picture not only reinforces endocannabinoids as potent regulators of cellular metabolism but also reveals that endocannabinoid signaling is mechanistically more complex and diverse than originally thought.”
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/30553404
https://www.plefa.com/article/S0952-3278(18)30176-5/fulltext
“Cannabis sativa var. spontanea is a spontaneous form of hemp with a low content of psychoactive cannabinoids and can be considered as a valuable source of other phytoconstituents to be used in nutraceuticals or for their health promoting properties.
Chemical data on this hemp variety are rather scarce. In this paper we report a comprehensive phytochemical characterization of leaves, male and female inflorescences of C. sativa var. spontanea growing wild in Hungary.
The results indicated that female inflorescence essential oil contains high amounts of the CB2 agonists (E)-caryophyllene (28.3%) and cannabidiol (CBD) (24.9%), whereas leaves and male inflorescence essential oils contained lower amounts of both compounds. HPLC-MS allowed to quantify CBD and CBD-A in the ethyl acetate extracts from leaves, male and female inflorescences; they were 0.3, 0.8 and 0.9%, and 0.2, 0.3 and 0.4%, respectively. Flavonoids were formed by C-glycosides and glucuronic acids of kaempferol and apigenin, with a total content of 3.8, 6.1 and 7.8 mg/g in methanolic extracts from leaves, male and female inflorescences, respectively.
Based on these results, C. sativa var. spontanea may represent an important source of CB2 agonists and bioflavonoids to be used in nutraceuticals, cosmetics and pharmaceuticals.”
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/30548994
https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1002/cbdv.201800562
“Due to renewed interest in the cultivation and production of Italian Cannabis sativa L., we proposed a multi-methodological approach to explore chemically and biologically both the essential oil and the aromatic water of this plant. We reported the chemical composition in terms of cannabinoid content, volatile component, phenolic and flavonoid pattern, and color characteristics. Then, we demonstrated the ethnopharmacological relevance of this plant cultivated in Italy as a source of antioxidant compounds toward a large panel of enzymes (pancreatic lipase, α-amylase, α-glucosidase, and cholinesterases) and selected clinically relevant, multidrug-sensible, and multidrug-resistant microbial strains (Staphylococcus aureus, Helicobacter pylori, Candida, and Malassezia spp.), evaluating the cytotoxic effects against normal and malignant cell lines. Preliminary in vivo cytotoxicity was also performed on Galleria mellonella larvae. The results corroborate the use of this natural product as a rich source of important biologically active molecules with particular emphasis on the role exerted by naringenin, one of the most important secondary metabolites.”