Tag Archives: Cannabinoids

Pot Slows Cancer in Test Tube – WebMD

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“THC and another marijuana-derived compound slow the spread of cervical and lung cancers, test-tube studies suggest.

The new findings add to the fast-growing number of animal and cell-culture studies showing different anticancer effects for cannabinoids, chemical compounds derived from marijuana.

Cannabinoids, and sometimes marijuana itself, are currently used to lessen the nausea and pain experienced by many cancer patients. The new findings — suggest that cannabinoids may have a direct anticancer effect.

“Cannabinoids’ … potential therapeutic benefit in the treatment of highly invasive cancers should be addressed in clinical trials,” conclude Robert Ramer, PhD, and Burkhard Hinz, PhD, of the University of Rostock, Germany…

Doses of THC that reduce pain in cancer patients yield blood concentrations much higher than the concentrations needed to inhibit cancer invasion.

“Thus the effects of THC on cell invasion occurred at therapeutically relevant concentrations,” Ramer and Hinz note…

Ramer and Hinz report the findings in the Jan. 2, 2008 issue of the Journal of the National Cancer Institute.”

More: http://www.webmd.com/cancer/news/20071226/pot-slows-cancer-in-test-tube

“Inhibition of Cancer Cell Invasion by Cannabinoids via Increased Expression of Tissue Inhibitor of Matrix Metalloproteinases-1”: http://jnci.oxfordjournals.org/content/100/1/59.long

Marijuana Inhibits Tumors

Cannabinoid receptors give cells the tools they need to defend against HIV infection

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“Researchers have reported that when healthy cells were placed in a sample dish with the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV), along with a dose of cannabinoids, the cells, which normally would rather quickly become infected, simply denied entry to the virus, and responded as if it were not a threat at all…
 

HIV isn’t special – cannabinoids don’t like any viruses

The stimulation of the receptors wasn’t just detrimental to the AIDS virus, it increased the cells abilities to defend itself against any number of viruses and bacteria…”

More: http://www.naturalnews.com/035656_cannabinoids_HIV_marijuana.html

Therapeutic potential of cannabinoid medicines.

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Drug Testing and Analysis

“Cannabis was extensively used as a medicine throughout the developed world in the nineteenth century but went into decline early in the twentieth century ahead of its emergence as the most widely used illicit recreational drug later that century. Recent advances in cannabinoid pharmacology alongside the discovery of the endocannabinoid system (ECS) have re-ignited interest in cannabis-based medicines.

The ECS has emerged as an important physiological system and plausible target for new medicines. Its receptors and endogenous ligands play a vital modulatory role in diverse functions including immune response, food intake, cognition, emotion, perception, behavioural reinforcement, motor co-ordination, body temperature, wake/sleep cycle, bone formation and resorption, and various aspects of hormonal control. In disease it may act as part of the physiological response or as a component of the underlying pathology.

In the forefront of clinical research are the cannabinoids delta-9-tetrahydrocannabinol and cannabidiol, and their contrasting pharmacology will be briefly outlined. The therapeutic potential and possible risks of drugs that inhibit the ECS will also be considered. This paper will then go on to review clinical research exploring the potential of cannabinoid medicines in the following indications: symptomatic relief in multiple sclerosis, chronic neuropathic pain, intractable nausea and vomiting, loss of appetite and weight in the context of cancer or AIDS, psychosis, epilepsy, addiction, and metabolic disorders.”

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/24006213

http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/dta.1529/abstract

Cannabis-Derived Drug for Type 2 Enters Phase 2

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“Cannabis-based drug for type 2s on the way?”

 
“A British drug company is looking to medical marijuana- or at least a derivative of it-to help treat a variety of different diseases, including type 2 diabetes.

The company, GW Pharma, is in the process of creating a collection of cannabinoid-based drugs, including one that takes aim at diabetes. The first of this type of drug the company has produced is Sativex, a nasal spray used to treat spasms associated with multiple sclerosis. Sativex has been okayed in eight countries, and is currently awaiting FDA approval in the United States.

The diabetes drug, GWP4204, is currently in its second phase of testing after a small but successful double-blind study. That study featured 62 type 2 patients who received various levels of the oral-administered drug or a placebo.”

More: http://diabeteshealth.com/read/2013/07/20/7933/cannabis-derived-drug-for-type-2-enters-phase-2–

Cannabis Can Prevent Cancer Caused By Cigarette Use, According To New Study

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tobacco cigarettes marijuana cannabis

“A new study published by the journal J-Stage, and funded by the Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology of Japan, has found that cannabinoids – whether THC, CBD or CBDV – were effective at blocking a certain enzyme which is known to cause cancer, and is produced in large amount when cigarettes are consumed.”

“These results suggest that the pentylresorcinol structure in CBD may have structurally important roles in direct CYP1A1 inhibition, although the whole structure of CBD is required for overall inhibition”, according to researchers.

CYP1A1 is an enzyme which isn’t dangerous at low-levels, but is produced in large quantities when someone smokes cigarettes; at large doses, the enzyme has been linked to cancer.

Researchers state that; “Accordingly, CBD and its related compounds, which are potent inhibitors of CYP1A1 activity, would be useful as a lead compound in anticancer chemotherapy.””

http://www.theweedblog.com/cannabis-can-prevent-cancer-caused-by-cigarette-use-according-to-new-study/

“Marijuana Disrupts Cancer Pathway of Cigarettes: Study” http://www.truthonpot.com/2013/08/19/marijuana-disrupts-cancer-pathway-of-cigarettes-study/

Chemicals in marijuana block the activity of a cancer-causing enzyme present in cigarette smokers.
 
“Chemicals in marijuana can block the activity of a cancer-causing enzyme commonly found in cigarette smokers.”
 
 

“Cannabis Can Prevent Cancer Caused by Cigarette Use, According to New Study” http://thejointblog.com/cannabis-can-prevent-cancer-caused-by-cigarrette-use-according-to-new-study/ 

“Marijuana Can Prevent Millions of Tobacco Deaths” http://salem-news.com/articles/august122013/tobacco-marijuanapl.php

Cannabinoid receptors as a target for therapy of ovarian cancer

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“Ovarian cancer represents one of the leading cause of cancer-relateddeaths for women and is the most common gynecologic malignancy.In spite of relative low morbidity, ovarian cancer has a highfatality ratio, with overall 5-year survival of less than 30%.At present, there are inadequate treatment options for the managementof advanced ovarian cancer, and therefore development of novelapproaches for treatment of this disease are needed.

Cannabinoids,the active components of Cannabis sativa linnaeous and their derivatives have received considerable attention in recent yearsdue to their diverse pharmacological activities such as cell growth inhibition and tumor regression. To date, two differentcannabinoid receptors have been characterized and cloned frommammalian tissues: the “central” CB1 receptor and the “peripheral”CB2 receptor…

These results support a new therapeutic approach for the treatmentof ovarian cancer. It is also conceivable that with available cannabinoids as lead compounds, non-habit forming agents that have higher biological effects could be developed.”

http://www.aacrmeetingabstracts.org/cgi/content/abstract/2006/1/1084

http://cancerres.aacrjournals.org/content/66/8_Supplement/1084.1

THC is anticarcinogenic: marijuana may be cancer cure!

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“Toxicology and Carcinogenesis Studies of 1-Trans-[Delta.sup.9]-Tetrahydrocannabinol

Summation of above:

“Thus, in our studies, rats and mice that received THC for 2 years exhibited body weight reductions, enhanced survival rates, and decreased tumor incidences in several sites, mainly organs under hormonal control. These earlier experimental carcinogenesis results on THC clearly lend further validity to the notion that cannabinoids may indeed be anticarcinogenic.””

 link
http://www.thefreelibrary.com/Antitumor+Effects+of+THC-a06814…

http://www.sodahead.com/united-states/thc-is-anticarcinogenic-marijuana-may-be-cancer-cure/question-1031413/?link=ibaf&q=THC+anti-carcinogenic+news

Cannabinoids may be a target for new strategies in cancer treatment

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“Cannabis-like substances that are produced by the body have both therapeutic and harmful properties, besides their well-known intoxicating effects, and the body’s cannabinoid system may be a target for new strategies in cancer treatment…

Cannabinoids have moreover been shown to affect the fate of cells. Cannabinoids protect some brain cells, whereas cells in certain types of brain tumors, such as glioma, are stimulated to commit controlled cell suicide (apoptosis)…

In summary, the findings of Sofia Gustafsson’s studies show that cannabinoids can be toxic for cancer cells… These findings are important for our knowledge both of the potential of the cannabinoid system as a target system for new strategies in cancer treatment…”

More: http://www.news-medical.net/news/20120229/Cannabinoids-may-be-a-target-for-new-strategies-in-cancer-treatment.aspx

Rx Marijuana: Most Readers Support Use

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“In one way or another, more than 80% of MedPage Today readers have a favorable opinion about medical marijuana.

A total of 60.7% of the more than 5,600 readers who voted in our survey last week indicated they have always favored medical marijuana, while another 20.4% who had previously opposed the legalization of pot as a medication indicated a change of heart (read “My Cannabis Conversion” by Dr. Sanjay Gupta).

Many readers suggested medical marijuana is a better option than the current crop of legal opiates.”

More: http://www.medpagetoday.com/PublicHealthPolicy/PublicHealth/41176

Cannabinoids and glucocorticoids modulate emotional memory after stress.

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“Bidirectional and functional relationships between glucocorticoids and the endocannabinoid system have been demonstrated. Here, I review the interaction between the endocannabinoid and glucocorticoid/stress systems. Specifically, stress is known to produce rapid changes in endocannabinoid signaling in stress-responsive brain regions. In turn, the endocannabinoid system plays an important role in the downregulation and habituation of hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenocortical (HPA) axis activity in response to stress. Glucocorticoids also recruit the endocannabinoid system to exert rapid negative feedback control of the HPA axis during stress. It became increasingly clear, however, that cannabinoid CB1 receptors are also abundantly expressed in the basolateral amygdala (BLA) and other limbic regions where they modulate emotional arousal effects on memory.

 Enhancing cannabinoids signaling using exogenous CB1 receptor agonists prevent the effects of acute stress on emotional memory.

 I propose a model suggesting that the ameliorating effects of exogenously administered cannabinoids on emotional learning after acute stress are mediated by the decrease in the activity of the HPA axis via GABAergic mechanisms in the amygdala.”

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/23954749