Category Archives: THC (Delta-9-Tetrahydrocannabinol)

Characterization of a novel adult murine immortalized microglial cell line and its activation by amyloid-beta.

Posted on by

“Alzheimer’s disease is associated with amyloid-beta (Aβ)-induced microglia activation.

This pro-inflammatory response promotes neuronal damage, and therapies are sought to limit microglial activation.

The objective of this study was to characterize Aβ-induced activation of IMG cells, and here, we demonstrate the ability of cannabinoids to significantly reduce this inflammatory response.

Aβ-induced activation of IMG cells was suppressed by delta-9-tetrahydrocannabinol and the CB2-selective agonist JWH-015 in a time- and concentration-dependent manner.

IMG cells recapitulate key features of microglial cell activation. As an example of their potential pharmacological use, cannabinoids were shown to reduce activation of Aβ-induced iNOS gene expression.”

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/26819091

CBD-enriched medical cannabis for intractable pediatric epilepsy: The current Israeli experience.

Posted on by

“To describe the experience of five Israeli pediatric epilepsy clinics treating children and adolescents diagnosed as having intractable epilepsy with a regimen of medical cannabis oil.

A retrospective study describing the effect of cannabidiol (CBD)-enriched medical cannabis on children with epilepsy.

The cohort included 74 patients (age range 1-18 years) with intractable epilepsy resistant to >7 antiepileptic drugs. Forty-nine (66%) also failed a ketogenic diet, vagal nerve stimulator implantation, or both.

They all started medical cannabis oil treatment between 2-11/2014 and were treated for at least 3 months (average 6 months).

The selected formula contained CBD and tetrahydrocannabinol at a ratio of 20:1 dissolved in olive oil. The CBD dose ranged from 1 to 20mg/kg/d. Seizure frequency was assessed by parental report during clinical visits.

CBD treatment yielded a significant positive effect on seizure load.

Most of the children (66/74, 89%) reported reduction in seizure frequency: 13 (18%) reported 75-100% reduction, 25 (34%) reported 50-75% reduction, 9 (12%) reported 25-50% reduction, and 19 (26%) reported <25% reduction. Five (7%) patients reported aggravation of seizures which led to CBD withdrawal.

In addition, we observed improvement in behavior and alertness, language, communication, motor skills and sleep. Adverse reactions included somnolence, fatigue, gastrointestinal disturbances and irritability leading to withdrawal of cannabis use in 5 patients.

CONCLUSIONS:

The results of this multicenter study on CBD treatment for intractable epilepsy in a population of children and adolescents are highly promising. Further prospective, well-designed clinical trials using enriched CBD medical cannabis are warranted.”

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/26800377

http://www.thctotalhealthcare.com/category/epilepsy-2/

Involvement of the orexin/hypocretin system in the pharmacological effects induced by Δ9-tetrahydrocannabinol.

Posted on by

“Anatomical, biochemical and pharmacological evidences suggest the existence of a cross-talk between the orexinergic and the endocannabinoid system.

The hypothermia, supraspinal antinociception and anxiolytic-like effects induced by THC were modulated by orexins through OX2 signalling.

OX1 did not seem to be involved in these THC responses. No differences in CB1 receptor levels were found between wild-type and PPO KO mice…

Our results provide new findings to further clarify the interaction between orexins and cannabinoids. OX1 and OX2 are differently implicated in the pharmacological effects of cannabinoids.”

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/26799708

The selective monoacylglycerol lipase inhibitor MJN110 produces opioid sparing effects in a mouse neuropathic pain model.

Posted on by

“Serious clinical liabilities associated with the prescription of opiates for pain control include constipation, respiratory depression, pruritus, tolerance, abuse, and addiction.

A recognized strategy to circumvent these side effects is to combine opioids with other antinociceptive agents.

The combination of opiates with the primary active constituent of cannabis, Δ9-tetrahydrocannabinol, produces enhanced antinociceptive actions, suggesting that cannabinoid receptor agonists can be opioid sparing…

Here, we tested whether elevating the endogenous cannabinoid 2-arachidonylglycerol (2-AG) through the inhibition of its primary hydrolytic enzyme monoacylglycerol lipase (MAGL), will produce opioid sparing effects…

These findings, taken together, suggest that MAGL inhibition produces opiate sparing events with diminished tolerance, constipation, and cannabimemetic side effects.”

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/26791602

http://www.thctotalhealthcare.com/category/pain-2/

Evidence for the efficacy and effectiveness of THC-CBD oromucosal spray in symptom management of patients with spasticity due to multiple sclerosis.

Posted on by

“Spasticity, one of the main symptoms of multiple sclerosis (MS), can affect more than 80% of MS patients during the course of their disease and is often not treated adequately.

δ-9-Tetrahydrocannabinol-cannabidiol (THC-CBD) oromucosal spray is a plant-derived, standardized cannabinoid-based oromucosal spray medicine for add-on treatment of moderate to severe, resistant multiple sclerosis-induced spasticity.

This article reviews the current evidence for the efficacy and safety, with dizziness and fatigue as the most common treatment-related adverse events, being mostly mild to moderate in severity.

Results from both randomized controlled phase III studies involving about,1600 MS patients or 1500 patient-years and recently published studies on everyday clinical practice involving more than 1000 patients or more than,1000 patient-years are presented.”

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/26788128

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4710104/

http://www.thctotalhealthcare.com/category/multiple-sclerosis-ms/

The Pharmacological Basis of Cannabis Therapy for Epilepsy.

Posted on by

“Recently, cannabis has been suggested as a potential alternative therapy for refractory epilepsy, which affects 30% of epilepsy patients including children who do not respond to current medications.

There is a large unmet medical need for new antiepileptics for refractory epilepsy and conditions associated with refractory seizures that would not interfere with normal function.

The two chief cannabinoids are delta-9-tetrahyrdrocannabinol, the major psychoactive component of marijuana, and cannabidiol (CBD), the major non-psychoactive component of marijuana.

There are claims of clinical efficacy of CBD-predominant cannabis or medical marijuana for epilepsy, mostly from limited studies, surveys or case reports.

However, the mechanisms underlying the antiepileptic efficacy of cannabis remain unclear. This article highlights the pharmacological basis of cannabis therapy, with an emphasis on the endocannabinoid mechanisms underlying the emerging neurotherapeutics of CBD in epilepsy.

CBD is anticonvulsant, but it has a low affinity for the cannabinoid CB1 and CB2 receptors; therefore the exact mechanism by which it affects seizures remains poorly understood.

A rigorous clinical evaluation of pharmaceutical CBD products is needed to establish the safety and efficacy for the treatment of epilepsy.

Identification of mechanisms underlying the anticonvulsant efficacy of CBD is additionally critical to identify other potential treatment options.”

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/26787773

http://jpet.aspetjournals.org/content/early/2016/01/19/jpet.115.230151.long

http://www.thctotalhealthcare.com/category/epilepsy-2/

Medicinal Cannabis: In Vitro Validation of Vaporizers for the Smoke-Free Inhalation of Cannabis.

Posted on by

“Inhalation by vaporization is a promising application mode for cannabis in medicine.

An in vitro validation of 5 commercial vaporizers was performed with THC-type and CBD-type cannabis.

Temperature-controlled, electrically-driven vaporizers efficiently decarboxylate inactive acidic cannabinoids and reliably release their corresponding neutral, active cannabinoids.

Thus, they offer a promising application mode for the safe and efficient administration of medicinal cannabis.”

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/26784441

Dronabinol has preferential antileukemic activity in acute lymphoblastic and myeloid leukemia with lymphoid differentiation patterns

Posted on by

Biomed Central logo

“It has been previously demonstrated in several cancer models, that Dronabinol (THC) may have anti-tumor activity – however, controversial data exists for acute leukemia. We have anecdotal evidence that THC may have contributed to disease control in a patient with acute undifferentiated leukemia.

To test this hypothesis, we evaluated the antileukemic efficacy of THC in several leukemia cell lines and native leukemia blasts cultured ex vivo.

We here reveal a novel aspect of dronabinol, a cannabinoid derivative, which displays remarkable antiproliferative as well as proapoptotic efficacy in a distinct leukemia patient cohort – in vitro and in ex vivo native leukemia blasts. It has been previously reported that cannabinoids display anticancer properties. However, due to legal issues the use and exploration of such agents is highly limited in many countries.

Importantly, we demonstrate that antileukemic concentrations are achievable in vivo.

Our study provides rigorous data to support clinical evaluation of THC as a low-toxic therapy option in a well defined subset of acute leukemia patients.”

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/26775260

http://bmccancer.biomedcentral.com/articles/10.1186/s12885-015-2029-8

Prenatal marijuana exposure and neonatal outcomes in Jamaica: an ethnographic study.

Posted on by

AAP Gateway

“Exposed and nonexposed neonates were compared at 3 days and 1 month old, using the Brazelton Neonatal Assessment Scale, including supplementary items to capture possible subtle effects.

There were no significant differences between exposed and nonexposed neonates on day 3. At 1 month, the exposed neonates showed better physiological stability and required less examiner facilitation to reach organized states.

The neonates of heavy-marijuana-using mothers had better scores on autonomic stability, quality of alertness, irritability, and self-regulation and were judged to be more rewarding for caregivers.

CONCLUSIONS:

The absence of any differences between the exposed on nonexposed groups in the early neonatal period suggest that the better scores of exposed neonates at 1 month are traceable to the cultural positioning and social and economic characteristics of mothers using marijuana that select for the use of marijuana but also promote neonatal development.”

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/8121737

http://pediatrics.aappublications.org/content/93/2/254