Tag Archives: cannabis

Antitumor Effects of THC.

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“1-Trans-[delta.sup.9]-tetrahydrocannabinol (THC) the main active component of marijuana, has been shown to exhibit anticancer activity.

Galve-Roperh et al. reported that intratumoral administration of THC induces apoptosis of transformed neural cells in culture, and also induces a considerable regression of malignant gliomas in Wistar rats and in mice… These authors suggest that their “results may provide the basis for a new therapeutic approach for the treatment of malignant gliomas.”

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.”

http://www.thefreelibrary.com/Antitumor+Effects+of+THC.-a068148345

“Antitumor effects of THC.” http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/11097557

Cannabis tea revisited: a systematic evaluation of the cannabinoid composition of cannabis tea.

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“Cannabis is one of the oldest known medicinal plants, and a large variety of biological activities have been described. The main constituents, the cannabinoids, are thought to be most important for these activities. Although smoking of cannabis is by far the most common way of consumption, a significant part of medicinal users consume it in the form of a tea.

However, not much is known about the composition of cannabis tea, or the effect of different parameters during preparation, handling or storage. In this study we used the high-grade cannabis available in Dutch pharmacies to study the cannabinoid composition of tea under standardized and quantitative conditions. Experimental conditions were systematically varied in order to mimic the possible variations made by medicinal users.

During analysis there was a specific focus on the cannabinoid tetrahydrocannabinol and its acidic precursor, tetrahydrocannabinolic acid. Also the role of non-psychoactive cannabinoids as components of cannabis tea are discussed.

The results obtained in this study provide a clear quantitative insight in the phytochemistry of cannabis tea preparation and can contribute to a better appreciation of this mode of cannabis administration.”

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/17604926 

Cannabinoid Receptor 2-Mediated Attenuation of CXCR4-Tropic HIV Infection in Primary CD4+ T Cells

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“Agents that activate cannabinoid receptor pathways have been tested as treatments for cachexia, nausea or neuropathic pain in HIV-1/AIDS patients… Cannabinoid agonists activate the CB1R and CB2R cannabinoid receptors…

Cannabinoid agonists are currently under investigation for the treatment of AIDS-associated cachexia, nausea, and neuropathic pain. One such drug, dronabinol (Δ9-THC; Marinol®), has won Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approval for treatment of HIV-associated anorexia. Additionally, the prescription of smoked or ingested cannabis (marijuana) for treatment of AIDS-related symptoms has been approved…. Despite the use of cannabinoids by HIV/AIDS patients, few studies have investigated the impact of such drugs in regard to viral pathogenesis or immune regulation…

….Indeed, both smoked marijuana and dronabinol were reported to increase total CD4+ T cell number and naïve T cell number over a 21-day period. A decrease in viral load was also observed in these patients. Similarly, in SIV infected rhesus macaques, Δ9-THC exposure reduced viral load and CD4+ T cell depletion, significantly increasing animal survival over an 11 month period.

. Our findings suggest that CB2R activation in CD4+ T cells can inhibit actin reorganization and impair productive infection following cell-free or cell-associated viral acquisition of CXCR4-tropic HIV-1 in resting cells.

Therefore, the clinical use of CB2R agonists in the treatment of AIDS symptoms may also exert beneficial adjunctive antiviral effects against CXCR4-tropic viruses in late stages of HIV-1 infection.

Further study of cannabinoids and other neuroendocrine regulators that selectively modulate immune function may result in the discovery of new anti-viral drugs that can also mitigate AIDS-associated symptoms.”

Full text: http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3309010/

Cannabinoids may be therapeutic in breast cancer.

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“Cannabinoids are a group of compounds synthesized exclusively by the Cannabis sativa plant, commonly known as marijuana. In 1990, the first cannabinoid-specific membrane (CB1) was characterized and cloned (Matsuda, Lolait, Brownstein, Young, & Bonner, 1990), which catapulted biomedical research on these unique compounds.

 Cannabinoids refer to both marijuana-derived compounds with the active ingredient of 9-tetrahydrocannabinol (THC) and also the synthetic molecules that activate the same primary targets as THC.

Therapeutic properties of marijuana have been well established; however, the clinical use of either plant-sourced or pure cannabinoids remains limited.

The anticachexia properties of cannabinoids are found in tetrahydrocannabinol (oral capsules of synthetically generated THC) and are used to manage weight loss, wasting syndrome, and nausea and vomiting associated with cancer treatment.”

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/23448745

Cannabis for better sleep

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“The use of both natural cannabinoids and cannabis extracts are associated with improved sleep in patients with various debilitating illnesses, according to a review of clinical trial data published in the journal Chemistry & Biodiversity.

“Cannabis … has been utilized for [the] treatment of pain and sleep disorders since ancient times,” authors wrote. “Modern clinical trials indicate that patients administered cannabis extracts report experiencing “more restful sleep, [an] increase [in] their daytime level of function, and [a] markedly improve[d] … quality of life.”

According to available data, of the 2,000 subjects that have been administered cannabis extracts in clinical trials, most “demonstrate marked improvement in subjective sleep parameters.”

Trial volunteers have not reported developing tolerance to the drug, even after using it for several years.

Full text of the study, “Cannabis, pain, and sleep: Lessons from therapeutic clinical trials of Sativex, a cannabis-based medicine,” appears in the journal Chemistry & Biodiversity.”

http://azarius.net/news/193/Cannabis_for_better_sleep/

Smoking Cannabis Reduces Pain, Helps Sleep And Improves Mood For Those With Chronic Symptoms

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“For patients with chronic (long-term) neuropathic pain, smoking cannabis was found to reduce symptoms of pain, improve mood and help sleep, a report published in CMAJ (Canadian Medical Journal Association) revealed. When damage or dysfunction of the nervous system results in chronic neuropathic pain, patients have few treatment options, such as antidepressants, local anesthetics, anticonvulsants or opioids. However, these medications often have undesirable side effects and do not work for everybody.

The authors inform that oral cannabinoids have been effective in reducing the symptoms of some types of pain. However, they many have different effects and risks compared to smoked cannabis.

Investigators from McGill University Health Centre (MUHC) and McGill University carried out a randomized, controlled trial to determine the analgesic effect of smoked cannabis in 21 patients, aged 18 years or more, all of them with chronic neuropathic pain. THC levels (drug potencies) were divided into 2.5%, 6% and 9.4%. Some participants also received a placebo (0%).

The researchers inform that there was a correlation between increased THC content and better sleep quality. Symptoms of depression and/or anxiety were also reduced at 9.5% THC level.”

More: http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/199376.php

The nonpsychoactive Cannabis constituent cannabidiol is a wake-inducing agent.

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“Cannabidiol (CBD) is a constituent of Cannabis sativa that induces nonpsychotropic effects, and some of its biological actions in sleep have been described by the authors’ group.

 Here, the authors report that when administered 10 or 20 microg/1 microl during the lights-on period directly into either lateral hypothalamus (LH) or dorsal raphe nuclei (DRN), which are wake-inducing brain areas, CBD enhanced wakefulness and decreased slow wave sleep and REM sleep. Furthermore, CBD increased alpha and theta power spectra but diminished delta power spectra. Additionally, CBD increased c-Fos expression in LH or DRN.

These findings suggest that this cannabinoid is a wake-inducing compound that presumably activates neurons in LH and DRN.”

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/19045957

Cannabidiol, a constituent of Cannabis sativa, modulates sleep in rats.

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“Delta(9)-tetrahydrocannabinol (Delta(9)-THC) and cannabidiol (CBD) are two major constituents of Cannabis sativa. Delta(9)-THC modulates sleep, but no clear evidence on the role of CBD is available.

In order to determine the effects of CBD on sleep, it was administered intracerebroventricular (icv) in a dose of 10 microg/5 microl at the beginning of either the lights-on or the lights-off period. We found that CBD administered during the lights-on period increased wakefulness (W) and decreased rapid eye movement sleep (REMS). No changes on sleep were observed during the dark phase. Icv injections of CBD (10 microg/5microl) induced an enhancement of c-Fos expression in waking-related brain areas such as hypothalamus and dorsal raphe nucleus (DRD). Microdialysis in unanesthetized rats was carried out to characterize the effects of icv administration of CBD (10 microg/5 microl) on extracellular levels of dopamine (DA) within the nucleus accumbens. CBD induced an increase in DA release. Finally, in order to test if the waking properties of CBD could be blocked by the sleep-inducing endocannabinoid anandamide (ANA), animals received ANA (10 microg/2.5 microl, icv) followed 15 min later by CBD (10 microg/2.5 microl). Results showed that the waking properties of CBD were not blocked by ANA.

 In conclusion, we found that CBD modulates waking via activation of neurons in the hypothalamus and DRD. Both regions are apparently involved in the generation of alertness. Also, CBD increases DA levels as measured by microdialysis and HPLC procedures.

Since CBD induces alertness, it might be of therapeutic value in sleep disorders such as excessive somnolence.”

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/16844117

Effects of acute systemic administration of cannabidiol on sleep-wake cycle in rats.

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“Cannabidiol (CBD) is one of the main components of Cannabis sativa and has a wide spectrum of action, including effects in the sleep-wake cycle. Objective: The objective of this paper is to assess the effects on sleep of acute systemic administration of CBD.

 Method: Adult male Wistar rats were randomly distributed into four groups that received intraperitoneal injections of CBD 2.5 mg/kg, CBD 10 mg/kg, CBD 40 mg/kg or vehicle (n=seven animals/group). Sleep recordings were made during light and dark periods for four days: two days of baseline recording, one day of drug administration (test), and one day after drug (post-test). Results: During the light period of the test day, the total percentage of sleep significantly increased in the groups treated with 10 and 40 mg/kg of CBD compared to placebo. REM sleep latency increased in the group injected with CBD 40 mg/kg and was significantly decreased with the dose of 10 mg/kg on the post-test day. There was an increase in the time of SWS in the group treated with CBD 40 mg/kg, although this result did not reach statistical significance.

 Conclusion: The systemic acute administration of CBD appears to increase total sleep time, in addition to increasing sleep latency in the light period of the day of administration.”

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/23343597

Can Medical Marijuana Help With Sleep Apnea

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“A medical disorder characterized by frequent interruptions in breathing of up to 10 seconds or more during sleep, sleep apnea, is associated with many physiological disorders, including fatigue, headaches, high blood pressure, irregular heartbeat, heart attack, and stroke…

In the June issue of the American Academy of Sleep Medicine Journal, researchers at the University of Illinois, Department of Medicine reported that sleep apnea in rats that received cannabinoids (natural chemicals of cannabis) was deleted. Doses of delta-9-THC and stabilized polyamide breathing during sleep and blocked serotonin-induced exacerbation of sleep apnea. Many patients who have used the ratio of medical cannabis improved sleep quality and less fatigue the next day.”

More: http://marijuanacalifornia.wordpress.com/2012/07/20/can-medical-marijuana-help-with-sleep-apnea/