“Accumulating evidence suggests involvement of the endocannabinoid system in the pathophysiology of schizophrenia, which signifies a potential application for this system in the treatment of this disorder.
…similarities in brain function between intoxicated healthy volunteers and schizophrenia patients provide an argument for a role of the endocannabinoid system in symptoms of schizophrenia, and further emphasise this system as a potential novel target for treatment of these symptoms.”
“After 4 millennia of more or less documented history of cannabis use, the identification of cannabinoids, and of Δ(9)-tetrahydrocannabinol in particular, occurred only during the early 1960s, and the cloning of cannabinoid CB1 and CB2 receptors, as well as the discovery of endocannabinoids and their metabolic enzymes, in the 1990s.
Despite this initial relatively slow progress of cannabinoid research, the turn of the century marked an incredible acceleration in discoveries on the “endocannabinoid signaling system,” its role in physiological and pathological conditions, and pain in particular, its pharmacological targeting with selective agonists, antagonists, and inhibitors of metabolism, and its previously unsuspected complexity.
The way researchers look at this system has thus rapidly evolved towards the idea of the “endocannabinoidome,” that is, a complex system including also several endocannabinoid-like mediators and their often redundant metabolic enzymes and “promiscuous” molecular targets.
These peculiar complications of endocannabinoid signaling have not discouraged efforts aiming at its pharmacological manipulation, which, nevertheless, now seems to require the development of multitarget drugs, or the re-visitation of naturally occurring compounds with more than one mechanism of action.
In fact, these molecules, as compared to “magic bullets,” seem to offer the advantage of modulating the “endocannabinoidome” in a safer and more therapeutically efficacious way.
This approach has provided so far promising preclinical results potentially useful for the future efficacious and safe treatment of chronic pain and inflammation.”
“This study examined whether chronic Δ9-THC during early adulthood would produce the same hormonally-dependent deficits in learning that are produced by chronic Δ9-THC during adolescence…
no significant effects of chronic treatment and no significant interaction between the chronic treatment and cannabinoid signaling. Thus, acute Δ9-THC produced hormonally-dependent effects on learning and performance behavior, but a period of chronic administration during early adulthood did not alter these effects significantly, which is contrary to what we and others have shown for chronic administration during adolescence.”
“In ancient medicine, cannabis has been widely used to cure disturbances and inflammation of the bowel. A recent clinical study now shows that the medicinal plant Cannabis sativa has lived up to expectations and proved to be highly efficient in cases of inflammatory bowel diseases.
In a prospective placebo-controlled study, it has been shown what has been largely anticipated from anecdotal reports, i.e. that cannabis produces significant clinical benefits in patients with Crohn’s disease. The mechanisms involved are not yet clear but most likely include peripheral actions on cannabinoid receptors 1 and 2, and may also include central actions.”
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/24356243
“In their prospective study, Naftali et al. used THC-free Cannabis as placebo with no other cannabinoids present. However, we should consider that also other ingredients of Cannabis, such as cannabidiol, cannabigerol, and tetrahydrocannabivarine (THCV), all of them non-psychotropic components of Cannabis, have proven antiinflammatory effects in experimental intestinal inflammation. Their actions partly involve non-CB receptor mechanisms via, for instance, peroxisome proliferator-activated receptors (PPAR) and transient receptor potential cation channels subfamily V receptors (TRPV) and should be regarded as additive beneficial effects of Cannabis in the improvement of colitis in addition to THC-mediated effects.
…an 8-week treatment with THC-rich Cannabis caused a decrease of the Crohn’s disease activity index (CDAI) in 90% of patients without producing significant side effects…
In summary, in agreement with the ancient use of Cannabis in intestinal disturbances and one decade of animal research, Cannabis was shown in a clinical trial to reduce symptoms in patients with CD. This elegant translation should be followed by larger trials confirming these results and by trials establishing the involved mechanisms to open a promising direction for future treatment of IBD.”
Full-text: http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4076530/
“Researchers from the University of South Carolina say that tetrahydrocannabinol, the principal constituent of marijuana, may have another medical use – treating those with autoimmune disorders.
Tetrahydrocannabinol (THC) is known to have analgesic effects so can be used to treat pain. It also aids relaxation and can reduce feelings of nausea and stimulate appetite…
Now, a new study, published in the Journal of Biological Chemistry, explores how analgesicmicroRNAs are influenced by THC.
MicroRNAs (miRNAs) are small, single-stranded, non-coding RNAs that play a vital role in regulating gene expression. And the authors claim that the ability to alter miRNA expression may be the key to successful treatment for many autoimmune diseases, including multiple sclerosis, arthritis and type 1 diabetes.”
“Herbal (smoked) cannabis has long been recognized as a possible option for relief of spasticity and neuropathic pain… An innovative method of benefiting from the mode of action of cannabinoids while limiting their drawbacks is to reduce peak plasma levels of 9-delta-tetrahydrocannabinol and counteract psychoactivity with higher than naturally occurring proportions of a second cannabinoid, cannabidiol.
Sativex® oromucosal spray (1:1 ratio of 9-delta-tetrahydrocannabinol/cannabidiol) has recently been approved in a number of EU countries and elsewhere for use in patients with MS-related spasticity who are resistant to treatment with other antispasticity medications.
In clinical trials, Sativex provided initial relief of spasticity symptoms within the first 4 weeks of treatment (trial period) in up to about half of patients resistant to other available oral antispasticity medications and demonstrated clinically significant improvement in spasticity (30% or higher reduction from baseline) in three-quarters of the initial responders. Adverse events were limited mainly to mild or moderate cases of somnolence and dizziness.
Under everyday clinical practice conditions, Sativex at a mean daily dose of <7 sprays/day, was shown to relieve spasticity in about 70% of patients previously resistant to treatment.
Clear improvements were also noted in associated symptoms such as sleep disturbances, bladder problems, loss of mobility and cramps…
Follow-up studies in Sativex responders support continued benefit without the need to increase doses for at least 1 year.
Sativex appears to be a promising solution for a meaningful proportion of patients with MS-related spasticity who have inadequate response to current antispasticity medications.”
In a paper published in October’s Anticancer Research, Wai Liu, a senior research fellow at St. George’s University of London, reports that he found six cannabinoids – active components of the cannabis plant – that can slow or outright kill cancer cells.
Though THC is the main cannabinoid associated with marijuana and has been recognized to have a “really strong anti-cancer effect,” Liu says, “it’s not a good candidate for therapeutic use because of its psychoactive properties.”
He examined whether several lesser-known cannabinoids would impact the growth of leukemia cells both individually and in combination.
The result?
“They’re good at killing cancer cells,” he says. And “because they’re not psychoactive, you can actually have the benefits associated with anti-cancer technology but not have the feelings of high, which are associated with THC.””
More: http://www.newsweek.com/marijuana-might-kill-cancer-1289
The anti-cancer properties of tetrahydrocannabinol (THC), the primary hallucinogenic component of cannabis, has been recognised for many years, but research into similar cannabis-derived compounds, known as cannabinoids, has been limited.
The study was carried out by a team at St George’s, University of London. It has been published in the journal Anticancer Research.
The team, led by Dr Wai Liu and colleagues carried out laboratory investigations using a number of cannabinoids, either alone or in combination with each other, to measure their anti-cancer actions in relation to leukemia.
Of six cannabinoids studied, each demonstrated anti-cancer properties as effective as those seen in THC. Importantly, they had an increased effect on cancer cells when combined with each other.”
More: http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2013/10/131014094105.htm
“Debate is just beginning in Washington over how medical marijuana will be grown and distributed now that the rules for the recreational market are established. Meanwhile, research into medical benefits of compounds within the cannabis plant continues to show effectiveness.
Effectiveness against pain in its many forms and other side effects of major diseases – or the palliative side of marijuana use – have been pretty well established, but can marijuana directly take on a disease as big, scary and deadly as cancer?
“What we’ve shown using just a few of these (cannabis) compounds is that the effects against cancer are really profound. They really are,” said Dr. Wai Liu, a senior research fellow at St George’s University of London.
Anticancer success
Quick note: Cannabinoids are the chemicals in marijuana that have effects in the body, some have psychoactive (or make you high) effects such as THC, and others such as CBD don’t have psychoactive effects but do interact with the body’s “cannabinoid receptors.” There are more than 85 “cannabinoids” in marijuana.
Liu’s most recent published research “explored the activity of six cannabinoids, used both alone and in combination in leukaemic cells.” The research was published in Anticancer Research: International Journal of Cancer Research and Treatment.
He said the anticancer activity of THC has been “known for sometime” but that THC’s psychoactive effect or tendency to get you high limits its use as a cancer-fighting agent. That’s partly due to the negative social stigma about getting high and, of course, not everyone wants to experience a high.
So, he set out to explore the cancer fighting ability of other cannabinoids that don’t get you high.
“We have shown that these six other agents that lack psychoactivity are also just as effective as an anti-cancer agent,” he said. Chief among the six was cannabidiol or CBD.”
“Cannabinoids, the active components of Cannabis sativa, have been shown to exert antiproliferative and proapoptotic effects on a wide spectrum of tumor cells and tissues.
Of interest, cannabinoids have displayed great potency in reducing the growth of glioma tumors, one of the most aggressive CNS tumors, either in vitro or in animal experimental models curbing the growth of xenografts generated by subcutaneous or intrathecal injection of glioma cells in immune-deficient mice.
Cannabinoids appear to be selective antitumoral agents as they kill glioma cells without affecting the viability of non-transformed cells.
This review will summarize the anti-cancer properties that cannabinoids exert on gliomas and discuss their potential action mechanisms that appear complex, involving modulation of multiple key cell signaling pathways and induction of oxidative stress in glioma cells.” http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/24281104
“The therapy of gliomas, the most frequent class of malignant primary brain tumors and one of the most aggressive forms of cancer characterized by high invasiveness, a high proliferation rate and rich neovascularization, could benefit from the use of cannabinoids, the active compounds of Cannabis sativa, and their synthetic derivatives. They have been shown to mimic the endogenous substances named “endocannabinoids” that activate specific cannabinoid receptors (CB1 and CB2).
Cannabinoids have been proven to inhibit glioma tumor growth in either in vitro or in vivo models through several cellular pathways such as elevating ceramide levels, modulating PI3K/Akt, MAPK kinases, inducing autophagy and oxidative stress state in glioma cells, thus arresting cell proliferation and inducing apoptosis. Since cannabinoids kill tumor cells without toxicity on their non transformed counterparts, probably modulating the cell survival/cell death pathways differently, they can represent a class of new potential anticancer drugs.” http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3835116/