Tag Archives: Cannabinoids

Cannabinoid receptors expression in bone marrow trephine biopsy of chronic lymphocytic leukaemia patients treated with purine analogues.

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“Cannabinoid receptors CB1 and CB2 are part the endocannabinoid system that plays an important role in the process of proliferation and apoptosis of different neoplastic cells. B-cell chronic lymphocytic leukaemia is one of the diseases in which these processes are altered… The aim of our study was the assessment of cannabinoid receptor expression on the B-lymphocytes in bone marrow trephine biopsy from leukaemic patients at diagnosis and after purine analogue treatment….

CONCLUSION:

The study provides original evidence for the existence of cannabinoid receptors on B-lymphocytes in chronic lymphocytic leukaemia patients. The receptors are thought to be a new structure that can modify the course of the disease and may be considered as a new target in leukaemia treatment.”

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/18004250

Δ9-Tetrahydrocannabinol-Induced Apoptosis in Jurkat Leukemia T Cells Is Regulated by Translocation of Bad to Mitochondria

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“Cannabinoids, the biologically active constituents of marijuana (Cannabis sativa)…

Plant-derived cannabinoids, including Δ9-tetrahydrocannabinol (THC), induce apoptosis in leukemic cells…

cannabinoids were shown to inhibit the proliferation of several human cancer cell lines, including leukemia…

Together, these data suggested that Raf-1/MEK/ERK/RSK-mediated Bad translocation played a critical role in THC-induced apoptosis in Jurkat cells…

THC and other cannabinoids can induce apoptosis in a variety of tumor cell lines, thereby raising the possibility of the use of cannabinoids as novel anticancer agents…”

Full text: http://mcr.aacrjournals.org/content/4/8/549.long

Cannabidiol-Induced Apoptosis in Human Leukemia Cells: A Novel Role of Cannabidiol in the Regulation of p22phox and Nox4 Expression

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“Marijuana has been suggested as a potent therapeutic agent alleviating such complications as intraocular pressure in glaucoma and cachexia, nausea, and pain in AIDS and cancer patients. A number of recent studies now suggest the possible use of these compounds for the treatment of cannabinoid receptor-expressing tumors…

In the current study, we examined the effects of the nonpsychoactive cannabinoid, cannabidiol, on the induction of apoptosis in leukemia cells. Exposure of leukemia cells to cannabidiol led to cannabinoid receptor 2 (CB2)-mediated reduction in cell viability and induction in apoptosis. Furthermore, cannabidiol treatment led to a significant decrease in tumor burden and an increase in apoptotic tumors in vivo…

Together, the results from this study reveal that cannabidiol, acting through CB2 and regulation of Nox4 and p22phox expression, may be a novel and highly selective treatment for leukemia…

In summary, the current study demonstrates that CBD-induced apoptosis may constitute a novel approach to treat malignancies of the immune system…”

Full text: http://molpharm.aspetjournals.org/content/70/3/897.long

Cannabidiol, unlike synthetic cannabinoids, triggers activation of RBL-2H3 mast cells

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“Plant-derived cannabinoids, such as Δ9-tetrahydrocannabinol (THC) and cannabidiol (CBD), the main psychoactive and nonpsychoactive components of cannabis, respectively, possess myriad pharmacological properties…

Cannabidiol (CBD), a prominent psychoinactive component of cannabis with negligible affinity for known cannabinoid receptors, exerts numerous pharmacological actions, including anti-inflammatory and immunosuppressive effects…

Together, these results support existence of yet-to-be identified sites of interaction, i.e., receptors and/or ion channels associated with Ca2+ influx of natural cannabinoids such as CBD and THC, the identification of which has the potential to provide for novel strategies and agents of therapeutic interest.”

Full text: http://www.jleukbio.org/content/81/6/1512.long

Gamma-irradiation enhances apoptosis induced by cannabidiol, a non-psychotropic cannabinoid, in cultured HL-60 myeloblastic leukemia cells.

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“Two non-psychotropic cannabinoids, cannabidiol (CBD) and cannabidiol-dimethylheptyl (CBD-DMH), induced apoptosis in a human acute myeloid leukemia (AML) HL-60 cell line…

  Caspase-3 activation was observed after the cannabinoid treatment, and may represent a mechanism for the apoptosis.

Our data suggest a possible new approach to treatment of AML.”

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/14692532

Cannabinoids induce incomplete maturation of cultured human leukemia cells.

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“Monocyte maturation markers were induced in cultured human myeloblastic ML-2 leukemia cells after treatment for 1-6 days with 0.03-30 microM delta 9-tetrahydrocannabinol (THC), the major psychoactive component of marijuana…

 Cannabinoids induce incomplete maturation of cultured human leukemia cells…

Findings obtained from this system may have important implications for studies of cannabinoid effects on normal human bone-marrow progenitor cells.”

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC298868/

Cannabinoid-receptor expression in human leukocytes.

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“Marijuana and many of its constituent cannabinoids influence the central nervous system (CNS), probably through the cannabinoid receptor, which has recently been cloned in rat and human. While numerous reports have also described effects of cannabinoids on the immune system, the observation of both mRNA and cannabinoid receptor has hitherto been exclusively confined to the brain, a reported detection in the testis being the sole example of its presence at the periphery.

Here we report the expression of the cannabinoid receptor on human immune tissues using a highly sensitive polymerase-chain-reaction-based method for mRNA quantification. We show that, although present in a much lower abundance than in brain, cannabinoid receptor transcripts are found in human spleen, tonsils and peripheral blood leukocytes…

The demonstration of cannabinoid-receptor expression at both mRNA and protein levels on human leukocytes provides a molecular basis for cannabinoid action on these cells.”

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/8508790

Anticancer activity of anandamide in human cutaneous melanoma cells.

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“Cannabinoids are implicated in the control of cell proliferation, but little is known about the role of the endocannabinoid system in human malignant melanoma. This study was aimed at characterizing the in vitro antitumor activity of anandamide (AEA) in A375 melanoma cells…

 Overall, these findings demonstrate that AEA induces cytotoxicity against human melanoma cells in the micromolar range of concentrations through a complex mechanism, which involve COX-2 and LOX-derived product synthesis and CB1 activation. Lipid raft modulation, probably linked to GPR55 activation, might also have a role.”

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/24041928

Marijuana’s Active Ingredient Targets Deadly Brain Cancer – WebMD

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“If results of a recent rat study hold true in human trials, marijuana could be the treatment of choice for patients with malignant glioma — an especially aggressive and often fatal form of brain cancer.

 No, rats haven’t started smoking pot. But when researchers injected tumorous animals with cannabinoids — the drug’s active ingredient — about a third of them went into remission, and another third lived significantly longer than untreated rats.

The findings appear in the March issue of the journal Nature Medicine…

According to lead researcher Manuel Guzmán, PhD, his team’s previous studies showed that cannabinoids could stop growth and kill cancer cells but did not harm normal cells. The current work examined the action behind this effect and whether it would also work in living animals…

The researchers first caused tumors in the brains of 18 rats. They then injected the animals over the course of seven days with either a natural or artificial cannabinoid, or a placebo for comparison. Additional groups of healthy, tumor-free rats also received the various treatments…

All of the untreated animals with tumors died between days 12 and 18, but those treated with the cannabinoids lived much longer, and had significantly smaller tumors…

There were no negative side effects at all in the healthy animals receiving treatment.”

More:http://www.webmd.com/cancer/news/20000228/marijuanas-active-ingredient-targets-deadly-brain-cancer

“Anti-tumoral action of cannabinoids: Involvement of sustained ceramide accumulation and extracellular signal-regulated kinase activation” http://www.nature.com/nm/journal/v6/n3/abs/nm0300_313.html

Marijuana May Stall Brain Tumor Growth – WebMD

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“Active Ingredient in Marijuana Inhibits Cancer Growth in Early Study.
 
The active ingredient in marijuana may help fight brain tumors, a new study suggests.
 

Researchers say the cannabinoids found in marijuana may aid in brain tumor treatment by targeting the genes needed for the tumors to sprout blood vessels and grow.

Their study showed that cannabinoids inhibited genes needed for the production of vascular growth factor (VEGF) in laboratory mice with glioma brain tumors and two patients with late-stage glioblastoma multiforme, a form of brain cancer.

VEGF is a protein that stimulates blood vessels to grow. Tumors need an abundant blood supply because they generally grow rapidly. So when VEGF is blocked, tumors starve from lack of blood supply and nutrients.

Blocking of VEGF constitutes one of the most promising tumor-fighting approaches currently available, says researcher Manuel Guzman, professor of biochemistry and molecular biology, at the Complutense University in Madrid, Spain, in a news release.”

More:http://www.webmd.com/cancer/news/20040815/marijuana-stall-brain-tumor-growth 

“Cannabinoids Inhibit the Vascular Endothelial Growth Factor Pathway in Gliomas”:  http://cancerres.aacrjournals.org/content/64/16/5617.long

 

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