“Cannabinoid (CB) receptors have emerged as an attractive therapeutic target for pain management in recent years and the interest in the use of cannabinoids is gradually increasing, particularly in patients where conventional treatments fail…
This study suggests that THC could be a future pharmacological option in the treatment of muscle pain.
The local administration of THC could be an interesting option to treat this type of pain avoiding the central adverse effects.”
“Nowadays, Cannabis sativa is considered the most extensively used narcotic. Nevertheless, this fame obscures its traditional employ in native medicine of South Africa, South America, Turkey, Egypt and in many regions of Asia as a therapeutic drug.
In fact, the use of compounds containing Cannabis and their introduction in clinical practice is still controversial and strongly limited by unavoidable psychotropic effects. So, overcoming these adverse effects represents the main open question on the utilization of cannabinoids as new drugs for treatment of several pathologies.
To date, therapeutic use of cannabinoid extracts is prescribed in patients with glaucoma, in the control of chemotherapy-related vomiting and nausea, for appetite stimulation in patients with anorexia-cachexia syndrome by HIV, and for the treatment of multiple sclerosis symptoms.
Recently, researcher efforts are aimed to employ the therapeutic potentials of Cannabis sativa in the modulation of cannabinoid receptor activity within the central nervous system, particularly for the treatment of neurodegenerative diseases, as well as psychiatric and non-psychiatric disorders.
This review evaluates the most recent available data on cannabinoids utilization in experimental and clinical studies, and highlights their beneficial effects in the prevention of the main neurological diseases and for the clinical treatment of symptoms with them correlated.”
“Cannabinoids and the endo-cannabinoid system play an important role in the sensation of pain. As conventional analgesics are often associated with serious side-effects, cannabinoids and agonists of their receptors offer a useful alternative or coanalgesic in the treatment of pain. The aim of this work is to summarize the role of cannabinoids and their receptors in nociception and pain treatment.” http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2991928/
“High-grade glioma is one of the most aggressive cancers in adult humans and long-term survival rates are very low as standard treatments for glioma remain largely unsuccessful.
Cannabinoids have been shown to specifically inhibit glioma growth as well as neutralize oncogenic processes such as angiogenesis.
In an attempt to improve treatment outcome, we have investigated the effect of Δ9-tetrahydrocannabinol (THC) and cannabidiol (CBD) both alone and in combination with radiotherapy in a number of glioma cell lines (T98G, U87MG, and GL261).
Cannabinoids were used in two forms, pure (P) and as a botanical drug substance (BDS).
Results demonstrated a duration- and dose-dependent reduction in cell viability with each cannabinoid and suggested that THC-BDS was more efficacious than THC-P, whereas, conversely, CBD-P was more efficacious than CBD-BDS.
…increase in radiosensitivity was associated with an increase in markers of autophagy and apoptosis.
These in vitro results were recapitulated in an orthotopic murine model for glioma, which showed dramatic reductions in tumor volumes when both cannabinoids were used with irradiation.
Taken together, our data highlight the possibility that these cannabinoids can prime glioma cells to respond better to ionizing radiation, and suggest a potential clinical benefit for glioma patients by using these two treatment modalities.”
“Direct activation of the cannabinoid CB1 receptor in the dorsolateral periaqueductal gray (dlPAG) inhibits anxiety- and panic-related behaviours in experimental animals. It has remained unclear, however, whether the local endocannabinoid signalling is recruited as a protective mechanism against aversive stimuli.
The present study tested the hypothesis that the endocannabinoid system counteracts aversive responses in the dlPAG-stimulation model of panic attacks…
The endocannabinoid system in the dlPAG attenuates the behavioural, cellular and cardiovascular consequences of aversive stimuli. This process may be considered for the development of additional treatments against panic and other anxiety-related disorders.”
“Cannabis use is common among people who are living with human immunodeficiency virus (HIV)/acquired immune deficiency syndrome (AIDS).
While there is growing pre-clinical evidence of the immunomodulatory and anti-viral effects of cannabinoids, their possible effects on HIV disease parameters in humans are largely unknown. Thus, we sought to investigate the possible effects of cannabis use on plasma HIV-1 RNA viral loads (pVLs) among recently seroconverted illicit drug users…
Consistent with the findings from recent in vitro and in vivo studies, including one conducted among lentiviral-infected primates, we observed a strong association between cannabis use and lower pVL following seroconversion among illicit drug-using participants.
Our findings support the further investigation of the immunomodulatory or antiviral effects of cannabinoids among individuals living with HIV/AIDS.”
“One of the core symptoms in post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) is the traumatic memory that constantly haunts the patient.
An increasing body of evidence points to the endocannabinoid (eCB) system as a key system in the regulation of emotionality and memory.
Hence, eCB enhancers may be the ideal pharmacological treatment for PTSD…
…eCBs have an essential role in maintaining emotional homeostasis and in modulating memory consolidation, retrieval and extinction.
Hence, the authors concluded that eCBs could be an ideal drug to treat PTSD by addressing both the emotional and cognitive aspects of the disorder.
Indeed, accumulating data from both clinical and pre-clinical studies suggest that targeting the eCB system may benefit PTSD.
Several studies support the self-medication hypothesis explanation for cannabis use to cope with PTSD symptoms.
To conclude, the eCB system may be a useful target for treating both the cognitive and emotional features of PTSD…”
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3776936/
http://www.thctotalhealthcare.com/category/post-traumatic-stress-disorder-ptsd/
“Microglia are a population of macrophage-like cells in the central nervous system (CNS) which, upon infection by the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV), secrete a plethora of inflammatory factors, including the virus-specified trans-activating protein Tat.
Tat has been implicated in HIV neuropathogenesis since it elicits chemokines, cytokines, and a chemotactic response from microglia. It also harbors a β-chemokine receptor binding motif, articulating a mode by which it acts as a migration stimulus.
Since select cannabinoids have anti-inflammatory properties, cross the blood-brain barrier, and target specific receptors, they have potential to serve as agents for dampening untoward neuroimmune responses.
The aim of this study was to investigate the effect of select cannabinoids on the migration of microglial-like cells toward Tat.
…it was demonstrated that the exogenous cannabinoids Delta-9-tetrahydrocannabinol (THC) and CP55940 exerted a concentration-related reduction in the migration of BV-2 cells towards Tat.
These results indicate that cannabinoid-mediated inhibition of BV-2 microglial-like cell migration to Tat is linked functionally to the CB2R…”
Collectively, the pharmacological and biochemical knockdown data indicate that cannabinoid-mediated modulation of macrophage migration to the HIV-1 Tat protein is linked to the CB(2)cannabinoid receptor.
Furthermore, these results suggest that the CB(2) cannabinoid receptor has potential to serve as a therapeutic target for ablation of HIV-1-associated untoward inflammatory response.”
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2846023/
http://www.thctotalhealthcare.com/category/hivaids/
“We identified 16 randomized placebo-controlled trials investigating cannabinoids as symptomatic treatment in multiple sclerosis (MS).
There is evidence that nabiximols (THC/CBD) oromucosal spray may reduce subjective symptoms of spasticity and that dronabinol (THC) is effective against neuropathic pain in patients with MS…”
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/25350886
http://www.thctotalhealthcare.com/category/multiple-sclerosis-ms/