“There is significant interest among patients and providers in using cannabis (marijuana) and its derivatives to treat a number of chronic illnesses, including inflammatory bowel disease. Despite the Schedule I classification of cannabis by the federal government, state governments have sought ways to make cannabis available for specific medical conditions, and some states have legalized cannabis outright. This white paper summarizes the preclinical data, clinical data, safety data, and the regulatory landscape as they apply to medical cannabis use in inflammatory bowel disease. Animal models of cannabinoid chemistry and physiology give evidence of anti-inflammatory, antidiarrheal, and nociceptive-limiting properties. Human studies have found benefit in controlling symptoms and improving quality of life, but no studies have established true disease modification given the absent improvement in biomarker profiles or endoscopic healing. Finally, this review describes the legal, regulatory, and practical hurdles to studying the risks and benefits of medical cannabis in the United States.” https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/30358848 https://academic.oup.com/ibdjournal/advance-article-abstract/doi/10.1093/ibd/izy319/5144402?redirectedFrom=fulltext]]>
Author Archives: David Worrell
Acute administration of beta-caryophyllene prevents endocannabinoid system activation during transient common carotid artery occlusion and reperfusion.
“The transient global cerebral hypoperfusion/reperfusion achieved by induction of Bilateral Common Carotid Artery Occlusion followed by Reperfusion (BCCAO/R) has been shown to stimulate early molecular changes that can be easily traced in brain tissue and plasma, and that are indicative of the tissue physiological response to the reperfusion-induced oxidative stress and inflammation.
The aim of the present study is to probe the possibility to prevent the molecular changes induced by the BCCAO/R with dietary natural compounds known to possess anti-inflammatory activity, such as the phytocannabinoid beta-caryophyllene (BCP).
CONCLUSIONS:
Collectively, the pre-treatment with BCP, likely acting as agonist for CB2 and PPAR-alpha receptors, modulates in a beneficial way the ECS activation and the lipoperoxidation, taken as indicative of oxidative stress. Furthermore, our results support the evidence that BCP may be used as a dietary supplement to control the physiological response to the hypoperfusion/reperfusion-induced oxidative stress.”“beta-caryophyllene (BCP), a sesquiterpene found as a common constituent of the essential oils of numerous food plants and primary component in Cannabis sativa L., is a dietary phytocannabinoid acting as selective agonist for CB2 receptor and peroxisome-proliferator activating receptor alpha (PPAR-alpha)”
“β-caryophyllene (BCP) is a common constitute of the essential oils of numerous spice, food plants and major component in Cannabis.” http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/23138934
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Beta-caryophyllene protects diet-induced dyslipidemia and vascular inflammation in rats: Involvement of CB2 and PPAR-γ receptors.
“Beta-caryophyllene (BCP) is a phytocannabinoid possessing selective agonistic activity to cannabinoid type-2 receptors (CB2R) and peroxisome proliferator-activated receptors-α (PPAR-α). However, few studies reported the contribution of PPAR-γ receptors in BCP effects. The aim of this study was to investigate the BCP effects on diet-induced dyslipidemia and vascular inflammation as well as the involvement of CB2R and PPAR-γ receptors. BCP treatment was superior to pioglitazone in anti-inflammatory and anti-atherosclerotic measures. BCP may represent a more potent alternate to pioglitazone avoiding its side effects in the treatment of insulin resistance and vascular inflammation.” https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/30343038 https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0009279718309347?via%3Dihub “β-caryophyllene (BCP) is a common constitute of the essential oils of numerous spice, food plants and major component in Cannabis.” http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/23138934]]>
Adolescent THC exposure does not sensitize conditioned place preferences to subthreshold d-amphetamine in male and female rats.
“The acute effects of marijuana consumption on brain physiology and behaviour are well documented, but the long-term effects of its chronic use are less well known. Chronic marijuana use during adolescence is of increased interest, given that the majority of individuals first use marijuana during this developmental stage , and adolescent marijuana use is thought to increase the susceptibility to abusing other drugs when exposed later in life. It is possible that marijuana use during critical periods in adolescence could lead to increased sensitivity to other drugs of abuse later on. To test this, we chronically administered ∆ 9-tetrahydrocannabinol (THC) to male and female Long-Evans (LER) and Wistar (WR) rats directly after puberty onset. Rats matured to postnatal day 90 before being exposed to a conditioned place preference task (CPP). A subthreshold dose of d-amphetamine, found not to induce place preference in drug naïve rats, was used as the unconditioned stimulus. The effect of d-amphetamine on neural activity was inferred by quantifying cfos expression in the nucleus accumbens and dorsal hippocampus following CPP training. Chronic exposure to THC post-puberty had no potentiating effect on a subthreshold dose of d-amphetamine to induce CPP. No differences in cfosexpression were observed. These results show that chronic exposure to THC during puberty did not increase sensitivity to a sub-threshold dose of d-amphetamine in adult LER and WR rats. This supports the concept that THC may not sensitize the response to all drugs of abuse.”
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/29770212.2
https://f1000research.com/articles/7-342/v2
“Cannabinoids are emerging as promising antitumor drugs. However, complete tumor eradication solely by cannabinoid therapy remains challenging. In this study, we developed a far-red light activatable cannabinoid prodrug, which allows for tumor-specific and combinatory cannabinoid and photodynamic therapy. This prodrug consists of a phthalocyanine photosensitizer (PS), reactive oxygen species (ROS)-sensitive linker, and cannabinoid. It targets the type-2 cannabinoid receptor (CB2R) overexpressed in various types of cancers. Upon the 690-nm light irradiation, the PS produces cytotoxic ROS, which simultaneously cleaves the ROS-sensitive linker and subsequently releases the cannabinoid drug. We found that this unique multifunctional prodrug design offered dramatically improved therapeutic efficacy, and therefore provided a new strategy for targeted, controlled, and effective antitumor cannabinoid therapy.”
“Alzheimer’s disease (AD) is characterized by multiple cognitive deficits including memory and sensorimotor gating impairments as a result of neuronal and synaptic loss.
The endocannabinoid system plays an important role in these deficits but little is known about its influence on the molecular mechanism regarding phosphorylated tau (p-tau) protein accumulation – one of the hallmarks of AD -, and on the density of synaptic proteins.
Thus, the aim of this study was to investigate the preventive effects of anandamide (N-arachidonoylethanolamine, AEA) on multiple cognitive deficits and on the levels of synaptic proteins (syntaxin 1, synaptophysin and synaptosomal-associated protein, SNAP-25), cannabinoid receptor type 1 (CB1) and molecules related to p-tau degradation machinery (heat shock protein 70, HSP70), and Bcl2-associated athanogene (BAG2) in an AD-like sporadic dementia model in rats using intracerebroventricular (icv) injection of streptozotocin (STZ).
This study showed, for the first time, that the administration of an endocannabinoid can prevent AD-like effects induced by STZ, boosting further investigations about the modulation of endocannabinoid levels as a therapeutic approach for AD.”
“The