“Medical marijuana significantly improved the condition of children suffering from cerebral palsy, a study by Wolfson Medical Center near Tel Aviv has found. According to the interim findings, treatment with cannabis oil reduced the disorder’s symptoms and improved the children’s motor skills. It also improved the kids’ sleep quality, bowel movements and general mood. “The THC’s effect is especially relevant to motor function, whether it’s Parkinson’s disease or other motor symptoms,” says Bar-Lev Schleider. “But the THC is also responsible for the psycho-active effect, so we picked a variety that also has a lot of CBD, which moderates the euphoric effect.” One group of children was treated with oil with a 1:6 ratio of THC to CBD, while for another group the ratio was 1:20. “According to the interim findings both oils are effective,” says Bar-Lev Schleider.” http://www.haaretz.com/israel-news/.premium-1.811010]]>
Tag Archives: Cannabinoids
Cannabis constituent synergy in a mouse neuropathic pain model.
“Cannabis and its psychoactive constituent Δ9-tetrahydrocannabinol (THC) have efficacy against neuropathic pain however, this is hampered by their side-effects. It has been suggested that co-administration with another major constituent cannabidiol (CBD) might enhance the analgesic actions of THC and minimise its deleterious side-effects.
We examined the basis for this phytocannabinoid interaction in a mouse chronic constriction injury (CCI) model of neuropathic pain. Acute systemic administration of THC dose-dependently reduced CCI-induced mechanical and cold allodynia, but also produced motor incoordination, catalepsy and sedation. CBD produced a lesser dose-dependent reduction in allodynia, but did not produce the cannabinoid side-effects. When co-administered in a fixed ratio, THC and CBD produced a biphasic dose-dependent reduction in allodynia. At low doses, the THC:CBD combination displayed a 200-fold increase in anti-allodynic potency, but had lower efficacy compared to that predicted for an additive drug interaction. By contrast, high THC:CBD doses had lower potency, but greater anti-allodynic efficacy compared to that predicted for an additive interaction. Only the high dose THC:CBD anti-allodynia was associated with cannabinoid side-effects and these were similar to those of THC alone. Unlike THC, the low dose THC:CBD anti-allodynia was not cannabinoid receptor mediated.
These findings demonstrate that CBD synergistically enhances the pain relieving actions of THC in an animal neuropathic pain model, but has little impact on the THC-induced side-effects. This suggests that low dose THC:CBD combination treatment has potential in the treatment of neuropathic pain.”
Anti-nociceptive interactions between opioids and a cannabinoid receptor 2 agonist in inflammatory pain.
“The cannabinoid 1 receptor and cannabinoid 2 receptor can both be targeted in the treatment of pain; yet, they have some important differences. Cannabinoid 1 receptor is expressed at high levels in the central nervous system, whereas cannabinoid 2 receptor is found predominantly, although not exclusively, outside the central nervous system. The objective of this study was to investigate potential interactions between cannabinoid 2 receptor and the mu-opioid receptor in pathological pain. The low level of adverse side effects and lack of tolerance for cannabinoid 2 receptor agonists are attractive pharmacotherapeutic traits. This study assessed the anti-nociceptive effects of a selective cannabinoid 2 receptor agonist (JWH-133) in pathological pain using mice subjected to inflammatory pain using the formalin test. Furthermore, we examined several ways in which JWH-133 may interact with morphine. JWH-133 produces dose-dependent anti-nociception during both the acute and inflammatory phases of the formalin test. This was observed in both male and female mice. However, a maximally efficacious dose of JWH-133 (1 mg/kg) was not associated with somatic withdrawal symptoms, motor impairment, or hypothermia. After eleven once-daily injections of 1 mg/JWH-133, no tolerance was observed in the formalin test. Cross-tolerance for the anti-nociceptive effects of JWH-133 and morphine were assessed to gain insight into physiologically relevant cannabinoid 2 receptor and mu-opioid receptor interaction. Mice made tolerant to the effects of morphine exhibited a lower JWH-133 response in both phases of the formalin test compared to vehicle-treated morphine-naïve animals. However, repeated daily JWH-133 administration did not cause cross-tolerance for morphine, suggesting opioid and cannabinoid 2 receptor cross-tolerance is unidirectional. However, preliminary data suggest co-administration of JWH-133 with morphine modestly attenuates morphine tolerance. Isobolographic analysis revealed that co-administration of JWH-133 and morphine has an additive effect on anti-nociception in the formalin test. Overall these findings show that cannabinoid 2 receptor may functionally interact with mu-opioid receptor to modulate anti-nociception in the formalin test.”
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/28879802
http://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/1744806917728227
“Topical 
“Insufficient management of cancer-associated chronic and neuropathic pain adversely affects patient quality of life. Patients who do not respond well to opioid analgesics, or have severe side effects from the use of traditional analgesics are in need of alternative therapeutic op-tions.
Anecdotal evidence suggests that medical cannabis has potential to effectively manage pain in this patient population.
This review presents a selection of representative clinical studies, from small pilot studies conducted in 1975, to double-blind placebo-controlled trials conducted in 2014 that evaluated the efficacy of