“We identified 16 randomized placebo-controlled trials investigating cannabinoids as symptomatic treatment in multiple sclerosis (MS). There is evidence that nabiximols oromucosal spray may reduce subjective symptoms of spasticity and that dronabinol is effective against neuropathic pain in patients with MS.”
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/26535431
http://www.thctotalhealthcare.com/category/multiple-sclerosis-ms/
“Current arthritis treatments often have side-effects attributable to active compounds as well as route of administration.
Cannabidiol(CBD) attenuates inflammation and pain without side-effects…
These data indicate that topical CBD application has therapeutic potential for relief of arthritis pain-related behaviours and inflammation without evident side-effects.”
“In vivo and in vitro studies have demonstrated a protective effect of cannabidiol (CBD) in reducing infarct size in stroke models, and against epithelial barrier damage in numerous disease models.
We aimed to investigate whether CBD also affects blood-brain barrier (BBB) permeability following ischaemia.
These data suggest that activity at the BBB could represent an as yet unrecognised mechanism of CBD-induced neuroprotection in ischaemic stroke, mediated by PPARγ and 5-HT1A .”
“Crack-cocaine use is prevalent in numerous countries, yet concentrated primarily – largely within urban contexts – in the Northern and Southern regions of the Americas. It is associated with a variety of behavioral, physical and mental health and social problems which gravely affect users and their environments. Few evidence-based treatments for crack-cocaine use exist and are available to users in the reality of street drug use. Numerous pharmacological treatments have been investigated but with largely disappointing results.
An important therapeutic potential for crack-cocaine use may rest in cannabinoids, which have recently seen a general resurgence for varied possible therapeutic usages for different neurological diseases.
Distinct potential therapeutic benefits for crack-cocaine use and common related adverse symptoms may come specifically from cannabidiol (CBD) – one of the numerous cannabinoid components found in cannabis – with its demonstrated anxiolytic, anti-psychotic, anti-convulsant effects and potential benefits for sleep and appetite problems.
The possible therapeutic prospects of cannabinoids are corroborated by observational studies from different contexts documenting crack-cocaine users’ ‘self-medication’ efforts towards coping with crack-cocaine-related problems, including withdrawal and craving, impulsivity and paranoia.
Cannabinoid therapeutics offer further benefits of being available in multiple formulations, are low in adverse risk potential, and may easily be offered in community-based settings which may add to their feasibility as interventions for – predominantly marginalized – crack-cocaine user populations.
Supported by the dearth of current therapeutic options for crack-cocaine use, we are advocating for the implementation of a rigorous research program investigating the potential therapeutic benefits of cannabinoids for crack-cocaine use.
Given the high prevalence of this grave substance use problem in the Americas, opportunities for such research should urgently be created and facilitated there.”
“The present study was designed to investigate the efficacy of a new formulation of alone, purified cannabidiol (CBD) (>98 %), the main non-psychotropic cannabinoid of Cannabis sativa, as a topical treatment in an experimental model of autoimmune encephalomyelitis (EAE), the most commonly used model for multiple sclerosis (MS)…
All these data suggest an interesting new profile of CBD that could lead to its introduction in the clinical management of MS and its associated symptoms at least in association with current conventional therapy.”
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/26489494
“Summarizing, we have shown that the topical administration of CBD can protect against the cascade of events (inflammation, oxidative injury and neuronal cell death) associated to the induction of EAE. Of note, topical CBD application was able to recover the hind limb lost sensitivity. This observation provides a rationale for evaluating its clinical translation that might represent a new concept in the management of MS. Finally, we suggest that CBD, devoid of psychoactive activity, could be potentially, safe and effective non invasive alternatives for alleviating neuroinflammation and neurodegeneration.” http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4618347/
“Chronic diseases are due to deviations of fundamental physiological systems, with different pathologies being characterised by similar malfunctioning biological networks.
The ensuing compensatory mechanisms may weaken the body’s dynamic ability to respond to further insults and reduce the efficacy of conventional single target treatments.
The multitarget, systemic, and prohomeostatic actions emerging for plant cannabinoids exemplify what might be needed for future medicines.
Indeed, two combined cannabis extracts were approved as a single medicine (Sativex®), while pure cannabidiol, a multitarget cannabinoid, is emerging as a treatment for paediatric drug-resistant epilepsy.
Using emerging cannabinoid medicines as an example, we revisit the concept of polypharmacology and describe a new empirical model, the ‘therapeutic handshake’, to predict efficacy/safety of compound combinations of either natural or synthetic origin.”
“It has been proposed that medicinal strains of cannabis and therapeutic preparations would be safer with a more balanced concentration ratio of Δ9-tetrahydrocannabinol (THC) to cannabidiol (CBD), as CBD reduces the adverse psychotropic effects of THC.
The aim of this study is to investigate whether CBD modulates THC-induced functional effects and c-Fos expression in a 1:1 dose ratio that approximates therapeutic strains of cannabis and nabiximols.
These data re-affirm that CBD modulates the pharmacological actions of THC and provide information regarding brain regions involved in the interaction between CBD and THC.”
“Since most patients with schizophrenia do not respond properly to treatment, scientific effort has been driven to the development of new compounds acting on pharmacological targets beyond the dopaminergic system.
Therefore, the aim is to review basic and clinical research findings from studies evaluating the effects of cannabidiol (CBD), an inhibitor of the reuptake and metabolism of anandamide and several other effects on nervous system, and sodium nitroprusside, a nitric oxide donor, on the prevention and treatment of psychosis.
Animal and human research supports that CBD and sodium nitroprusside might be effective in the prevention and treatment of psychosis in general and especially in schizophrenia.
The evidence available to date shows that CBD and sodium nitroprusside act in pathways associated with psychotic symptoms and that they may be important agents in the management of prodromal psychotic states and psychosis.
This underscores the relevance of further research on the effects of these agents and others that mediate the activity of the cannabinoid system and of nitric oxide, as well as comparative studies of their antipsychotic effects and those of other antipsychotic drugs currently used to treat schizophrenia.”
“Cannabidiol (CBD), a Cannabis sativa constituent, is a pharmacologically broad-spectrum drug that in recent years has drawn increasing interest as a treatment for a range of neuropsychiatric disorders.
The purpose of the current review is to determine CBD’s potential as a treatment for anxiety-related disorders, by assessing evidence from preclinical, human experimental, clinical, and epidemiological studies.
We found that existing preclinical evidence strongly supports CBD as a treatment for generalized anxiety disorder, panic disorder, social anxiety disorder, obsessive-compulsive disorder, and post-traumatic stress disorder when administered acutely; however, few studies have investigated chronic CBD dosing.
Likewise, evidence from human studies supports an anxiolytic role of CBD, but is currently limited to acute dosing, also with few studies in clinical populations.
Overall, current evidence indicates CBD has considerable potential as a treatment for multiple anxiety disorders, with need for further study of chronic and therapeutic effects in relevant clinical populations.”
“One of the most exciting areas of current research in the cannabinoid field is the study of the potential application of these compounds as antitumoral drugs. Here, we describe the signaling pathway that mediates cannabinoid-induced apoptosis of tumor cells. By using a wide array of experimental approaches, we identify the stress-regulated protein p8 (also designated as candidate of metastasis 1) as an essential mediator of cannabinoid antitumoral action and show that p8 upregulation is dependent on de novo-synthesized ceramide. We also observe that p8 mediates its apoptotic effect via upregulation of the endoplasmic reticulum stress-related genes ATF-4, CHOP, and TRB3. Activation of this pathway may constitute a potential therapeutic strategy for inhibiting tumor growth.”
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/16616335
“Marijuana has been used in medicine for many centuries, and nowadays there is a renaissance in the study of the therapeutic effects of cannabinoids. One of the most active areas of research in the cannabinoid field is the study of the potential antitumoral application of these drugs. Our results unravel the mechanism of cannabinoid antitumoral action by demonstrating the proapoptotic role of the stress protein p8 via its downstream targets ATF-4, CHOP, and TRB3.
The identification of this pathway may contribute to the design of therapeutic strategies for inhibiting tumor growth. In particular, our findings can help to improve the efficiency and selectivity of potential antitumoral therapies with cannabinoids.
Our results also support that cannabinoid treatment does not activate this pathway in nontransformed cells, in line with the belief that cannabinoid proapoptotic action is selective for tumor versus nontumor cells, and that cannabinoids act in a synergic fashion with ER stress inducers as well as with other antitumoral agents.
The identification of the p8-regulated pathway described here may contribute to the design of therapeutic strategies for inhibiting tumor growth. In particular, our findings can help to improve the efficiency and selectivity of a potential cannabinoid-based antitumoral therapy.”
http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1535610806000857