Tag Archives: plant

Cannabidiol Is a Potential Therapeutic for the Affective-Motivational Dimension of Incision Pain in Rats.

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“Drugs that interfere with the endocannabinoid system are alternatives for the management of clinical pain. Cannabidiol (CBD), a phytocannabinoid found in Cannabis sativa, has been utilized in preclinical and clinical studies for the treatment of pain. Herein, we evaluate the effects of CBD. The study provides evidence that CBD influences different dimensions of the response of rats to a surgical incision, and the results establish the rostral anterior cingulate cortex (rACC) as a brain area from which CBD evokes antinociceptive effects in a manner similar to the systemic administration of CBD. The present study has shown for the first time that CBD injected either systemically or into the rACC induces a long-lasting anti-allodynic effect with a bell-shaped dose-response curve in a rat model of incision pain.” https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/28680401

Pharmaceutical and biomedical analysis of cannabinoids: A critical review

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“Cannabis products have recently regained much attention due to the high pharmacological potential of their cannabinoid content. In this review, the most widely used sample preparation strategies for the extraction of cannabinoids are described for the specific application to either plant materials or biological matrices. Several analytical techniques are described pointing out their respective advantages and drawbacks. In particular, chromatographic methods, such as TLC, GC and HPLC, are discussed and compared in terms of selectivity and sensitivity. Various detection methods are also presented based on the specific aim of the cannabinoids analysis. Lastly, critical considerations are mentioned with the aim to deliver useful suggestions for the selection of the optimal and most suitable method of analysis of cannabinoids in either biomedical or cannabis derived samples.” https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/28641906   http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0731708517311895

Is cannabis treatment for anxiety, mood, and related disorders ready for prime time?

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Depression and Anxiety

“Anxiety and related disorders are the most common mental conditions affecting the North American population. Despite their established efficacy, first-line antidepressant treatments are associated with significant side effects, leading many afflicted individuals to seek alternative treatments. Cannabis is commonly viewed as a natural alternative for a variety of medical and mental health conditions. Currently, anxiety ranks among the top five medical symptoms for which North Americans report using medical marijuana. However, upon careful review of the extant treatment literature, the anxiolytic effects of cannabis in clinical populations are surprisingly not well-documented. The effects of cannabis on anxiety and mood symptoms have been examined in healthy populations and in several small studies of synthetic cannabinoid agents but there are currently no studies which have examined the effects of the cannabis plant on anxiety and related disorders. In light of the rapidly shifting landscape regarding the legalization of cannabis for medical and recreational purposes, it is important to highlight the significant disconnect between the scientific literature, public opinion, and related policies. The aim of this article is to provide a comprehensive review of the current cannabis treatment literature, and to identify the potential for cannabis to be used as a therapeutic intervention for anxiety, mood, and related disorders. Searches of five electronic databases were conducted (PubMed, MEDLINE, Web of Science, PsychINFO, and Google Scholar), with the most recent in February 2017. The effects of cannabis on healthy populations and clinical psychiatric samples will be discussed, focusing primarily on anxiety and mood disorders.”  https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/28636769   http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/da.22664/abstract

“The endocannabinoid system and the treatment of mood and anxiety disorders. Collectively, both clinical and preclinical data argue that cannabinoid receptor signalling may be a realistic target in the development of a novel class of agent for the pharmacotherapy of mood and anxiety disorders.”  https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/19839936

Assessing the role of serotonergic receptors in cannabidiol’s anticonvulsant efficacy.

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“Cannabidiol (CBD) is a phytocannabinoid that has demonstrated anticonvulsant efficacy in several animal models of seizure. The current experiment validated CBD’s anticonvulsant effect using the acute pentylenetetrazol (PTZ) model.

While this work further confirms the anticonvulsant efficacy of CBD and supports its application in the treatment of human seizure disorders, additional research on CBD’s mechanism of action must be conducted.”

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/28624721

http://www.epilepsybehavior.com/article/S1525-5050(17)30122-1/fulltext

In silico gene expression profiling in Cannabis sativa.

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“The cannabis plant and its active ingredients (i.e., cannabinoids and terpenoids) have been socially stigmatized for half a century. Luckily, with more than 430,000 published scientific papers and about 600 ongoing and completed clinical trials, nowadays cannabis is employed for the treatment of many different medical conditions. Nevertheless, even if a large amount of high-throughput functional genomic data exists, most researchers feature a strong background in molecular biology but lack advanced bioinformatics skills. In this work, publicly available gene expression datasets have been analyzed giving rise to a total of 40,224 gene expression profiles taken from cannabis plant tissue at different developmental stages. The resource presented here will provide researchers with a starting point for future investigations with Cannabis sativa.”  https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/28529696

“Today, cannabis and its derivatives are successfully employed for treatment of a large number of different pathological conditions. Cannabis sativa is a versatile plant – it is being used for medical as well as for industrial purposes. Like in other plants, the cannabis genome is highly redundant and difficult to resolve. It is very likely that false negatives have caused important transcripts to still be missing. Nevertheless, these 40,224 gene expression profiles will provide researchers with a valuable resource and important genomic insights for future investigations with Cannabis sativa.”  https://f1000research.com/articles/6-69/v1

Antimicrobial Activity of Cannabis sativa L.

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“The oil of the seeds, petroleum ether and methanol extracts of the whole plant of Cannabis sativa belonging to the family Cannabinaceae were screened for their antimicrobial activity against two Gram positive organisms (Bacillus subtilis, Staphylococcus aureus), two Gram negative organisms (Escherichia coli, Pseudomonas aeruginosa) and two fungi namely Aspergillus niger and Candida albicans using the cup plate agar diffusion method.

The oil of the seeds of Cannabis sativa exerted pronounced antibacterial activity (21 – 28 mm) against Bacillus subtilis and Staphylococcus aureus, moderate activity (15 mm) against Escherichia coli and high activity (16 mm) against Pseudomonas aeruginosa and inactive against the two fungi tested. The petroleum ether extract of the whole plant exhibited pronounced antibacterial activity (23 – 28 mm) against both Bacillus subtilis and Staphylococcus aureus organisms, high activity (16 mm) against Escherichia coli and inactive against Pseudomonas aeruginosa and both fungi. The methanol extract of the whole plant showed also pronounced antibacterial activity (29 mm) against Bacillus subtilis, low activity (12 mm) against Staphylococcus aureus and high activity (16 – 18 mm) against both Gram negative organisms, inactive against Aspergillus niger and low activity (13 mm) against Candida albicans.

The minimum inhibitory concentrations of Cannabis sativa methanol extracts of the seeds and the whole plant against the standard organisms were determined using the agar plate dilution method. The standard organisms were tested against reference antibacterial and antifungal drugs and the results were compared with the activity of the extracts.”

http://www.scirp.org/journal/PaperInformation.aspx?PaperID=18123

Comparative in silico analyses of Cannabis sativa, Prunella vulgaris and Withania somnifera compounds elucidating the medicinal properties against rheumatoid arthritis

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“From last decade, there has been progressive improvement in computational drug designing. Several diseases are being cured from different plant extracts and products.

Rheumatoid arthritis (RA) is the most shared disease among auto-inflammatory diseases. Tumor necrosis factor (TNF)-α is associated with RA pathway and has adverse effects.

Extensive literature review showed that plant species under study (Cannabis sativa, Prunella vulgaris and Withania somnifera) possess anti-inflammatory, anti-arthritic and anti-rheumatic properties.

13 anti-inflammatory compounds were characterized and filtered out from medicinal plant species and analyzed for RA by targeting TNF-α through in silicoanalyses. By using ligand based pharmacophore generation approach and virtual screening against natural products libraries we retrieved twenty unique molecules that displayed utmost binding affinity, least binding energies and effective drug properties. The docking analyses revealed that Ala-22, Glu-23, Ser-65, Gln-67, Tyr-141, Leu-142, Asp-143, Phe-144 and Ala-145 were critical interacting residues for receptor-ligand interactions.

It is proposed that the RA patients should use reported compounds for the prescription of RA by targeting TNF-α. This report is opening new dimensions for designing innovative therapeutic targets to cure RA.”

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/28472734

http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1093326317302735

Combined cannabinoid therapy via an oromucosal spray.

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“Extensive basic science research has identified the potential therapeutic benefits of active compounds extracted from the Cannabis sativa L. plant (the cannabinoids). It is recognized that a significant proportion of patients suffering with the debilitating symptoms of pain and spasticity in multiple sclerosis or other conditions smoke cannabis despite the legal implications and stigma associated with this controlled substance. GW Pharmaceuticals have developed Sativex (GW- 1000-02), a combined cannabinoid medicine that delivers and maintains therapeutic levels of two principal cannabinoids, delta-9-tetrahydrocannabinol (THC) and cannabidiol (CBD), via an oromucosal pump spray, that aims to minimize psychotropic side effects.”  https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/16969427

“Sativex has proved to be well tolerated and successfully self-administered and self-titrated in both healthy volunteers and patient cohorts. Clinical assessment of this combined cannabinoid medicine has demonstrated efficacy in patients with intractable pain (chronic neuropathic pain, pain due to brachial plexus nerve injury, allodynic peripheral neuropathic pain and advanced cancer pain), rheumatoid arthritis and multiple sclerosis (bladder problems, spasticity and central pain), with no significant intoxication-like symptoms, tolerance or withdrawal syndrome.”  https://journals.prous.com/journals/servlet/xmlxsl/pk_journals.xml_summaryn_pr?p_JournalId=4&p_RefId=1021517

“Sativex(®) (nabiximols, USAN name) oromucosal spray contains the two main active constituents of Cannabis sativa, tetrahydrocannabinol and cannabidiol in a 1:1 molecular ratio, and acts as an endocannabinoid system modulator.”  https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/21449855

“Abuse potential and psychoactive effects of δ-9-tetrahydrocannabinol and cannabidiol oromucosal spray (Sativex), a new cannabinoid medicine. Evidence to date suggests that abuse or dependence on Sativex is likely to occur in only a very small proportion of recipients.” https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/21542664

Cannabis Use in Palliative Oncology: A Review of the Evidence for Popular Indications.

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“A flowering plant of variegated ingredients and psychoactive qualities, cannabis has long been used for medicinal and recreational purposes. Currently, cannabis is approved in several countries for indications of symptomatic alleviation. However, limited knowledge on the benefits and risks precludes inclusion of cannabis in standard treatment guidelines. This review provides a summary of the available literature on the use of cannabis and cannabinoid-based medicines in palliative oncology. Favorable outcomes are demonstrated for chemotherapy-induced nausea and vomiting and cancer-related pain, with evidence of advantageous neurological interactions. Benefit in the treatment of anorexia, insomnia and anxiety is also suggested. Short- and long-term side effects appear to be manageable and to subside after discontinuation of the drug. Finally, cannabinoids have shown anti-neoplastic effects in preclinical studies in a wide range of cancer cells and some animal models. Further research is needed before cannabis can become a part of evidence-based oncology practice.”

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/28457056

Marijuana compounds show promise in treatment of cardiac disease

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Marijuana compounds show promise in treatment of cardiac disease

“A Nevada company is hoping to develop new medicines for heart failure using compounds in marijuana and a novel therapy identified by a University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa researcher. Dr. Alexander Stokes, assistant research professor in the Department of Cell and Molecular Biology at the UH John A. Burns School of Medicine, obtained a U.S. patent for his novel therapy in 2015. The patent claims the cannabinoid receptor TRPV1 can be regulated therapeutically by plant-based cannabinoids.”  https://medicalxpress.com/news/2017-01-marijuana-compounds-treatment-cardiac-disease.html

“Marijuana compounds show promise in treatment of cardiac disease”  http://manoa.hawaii.edu/news/article.php?aId=8355

“Marijuana compounds show promise in treatment of cardiac disease”  http://www.hawaii.edu/news/2017/01/12/marijuana-compounds-show-promise-in-treatment-of-cardiac-disease/