“The early proinflammatory cytokine tumor necrosis factor (TNF) is released in significant quantities by the activated immune system in response to infection, leukemia, autoimmune disorders, and radiation sickness. Nausea, emesis, and anorexia are common features of these disorders. TNF action on vagal afferent terminals in the brainstem is a likely cause of the malaise associated with these disorders.
For millennia, cannabinoids(CB) have been used to combat the visceral malaise associated with chronic disease…
These results help to explain the effectiveness of cannabinoids in blocking the malaise generated by TNF-releasing disease processes by opposing effects on ryanodine channels.
We believe that this is the first demonstration of the likely intracellular mechanism used by CB1 analogs to block the effects of TNF on neurotransmitter mechanisms that cause pain and visceral malaise.
These results may explain how cannabinoids can be effective in the treatment of the allodynia and visceral malaise of chronic disease.”