“Cannabinoids are a collective group of compounds that act on cannabinoid receptors. They include plant-derived phytocannabinoids, synthetic cannabinoids, and endogenously-derived endocannabinoids. The primary source of cannabinoid toxicity is from plant-derived cannabinoids and synthetic cannabinoids. These agents act as cannabinoid receptor agonists. More than 60 naturally occurring cannabinoids are found in the Sativa and Indica species of Cannabis, with delta-9 tetrahydrocannabinol (THC) being the main psychoactive compound. Other naturally occurring cannabinoids include cannabidiol and cannabinol. Marijuana is the most common colloquial name for crushed, dried leaves and flowers of the Cannabis plant. In recent years, there have been many reports of marijuana toxicity, primarily in the pediatric population, as medical and recreational marijuana has been legalized. The terms phytocannabinoids, marijuana and cannabis are used interchangeably. Synthetic cannabinoids were created for therapeutic and research purposes; however, despite legal efforts to limit their availability, synthetic cannabinoids have become an increasingly common drug of abuse, sold under various street names such as K2, Spice, and Black Mamba. Synthetic cannabinoids are associated with much more morbidity and mortality than the phytocannabinoids. Prescription preparations for medical usage include dronabinol, or pure THC, nabilone, a synthetic cannabinoid, and cannabidiol (CBD). Pharmaceutical use of cannabinoids is an ongoing field of research.” https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/29489164 https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK482175/]]>
Tag Archives: phytocannabinoids
Cannabidiol inhibits pathogenic T cells, decreases spinal microglial activation and ameliorates multiple sclerosis-like disease in C57BL/6 mice.
“Cannabis extracts and several cannabinoids have been shown to exert broad anti-inflammatory activities in experimental models of inflammatory CNS degenerative diseases. Clinical use of many cannabinoids is limited by their psychotropic effects. However, phytocannabinoids like cannabidiol (CBD), devoid of psychoactive activity, are, potentially, safe and effective alternatives for alleviating neuroinflammation and neurodegeneration.
Treatment with CBD during disease onset ameliorated the severity of the clinical signs of EAE.
CBD, a non-psychoactive cannabinoid, ameliorates clinical signs of EAE in mice, immunized against MOG. Suppression of microglial activity and T-cell proliferation by CBD appeared to contribute to these beneficial effects.”
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/21449980 “In summary, we have shown that CBD administered to MOG-immunized C57BL/6 mice, at the onset of EAE disease, reduced the severity of the clinical signs of EAE. CBD treatment was accompanied by diminished axonal loss and inflammation (infiltration of T cells and microglial activation). Moreover, CBD prevented proliferation of myelin-specific T cells in vitro. These observations suggest that CBD may have potential for alleviating MS-like pathology.” http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/j.1476-5381.2011.01379.x/full“Study Shows Cannabidiol (CBD) Improves MS-Like Symptoms” http://www.prohealth.com/library/showarticle.cfm?libid=31211
]]>Time-dependent effect of phytocannabinoid treatments in fat cells.
“The objectives of this paper is to investigate, demonstrate, and compare the mechanism of action of phytocannabinoids as antidiabetic and anti-obesity agents in preadipocytes and adipocytes, relative to rosiglitazone and metformin. Briefly, cannabis extract, Δ9 -tetrahydrocannabinol and cannabidiol (in very low dosages) were shown to promote glucose uptake higher or to equivalent levels, reduce fat accumulation, and reverse the insulin-resistant state of 3T3-L1 cells more effectively, relative to rosiglitazone and metformin. The phytocannabinoids had a more pronounced effect in preadipocytes undifferentiated model rather than the differentiated model. They induced a protective effect at the mitochondrial level by preventing overactivity of the succinate dehydrogenase pathway (p < .01), unlike rosiglitazone, through activation of the glycerol-3-phosphate dehydrogenase shuttling system. An increase in oxygen consumption and an increased expression of beta to alpha adrenoceptors (p < .05) in treated cells were noted. These findings contribute toward understanding the mechanism of action of phytocannabinoids in fat cells and highlight the antidiabetic and anti-obesity properties of various phytocannabinoids that could potentially support the treatment of obesity-related insulin resistance.” https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/29464872]]>
Identification of a sustainable two-plant diet that effectively prevents age-related metabolic syndrome and extends lifespan in aged mice.
“The current system of food production is linked to both the increasing prevalence of chronic disease and the deterioration of the environment, and thereby calls for novel ways of producing nutritious foods in a sustainable manner.
In the “longevity village” of Bama, China, we have identified two plant foods, hemp seed and bitter vegetable (Sonchus oleraceus), that are commonly consumed by its residents and grow abundantly in unfarmed land without fertilizers or pesticides.
Here, we show that a diet composed of these two foods (the “HB diet”) provides a sufficient variety of nutrients and confers significant health benefits.
Aged mice allowed ad libitum access to the HB diet not only had longer life spans and improved cognitive function but were also protected against age-related metabolic syndrome, fatty liver, gut dysbiosis and chronic inflammation compared to aged mice fed a control Western diet.
Furthermore, longevity-related genes (including 5’adenosine monophosphate-activated protein kinase, sirtuin 1, nuclear respiratory factor 1 and forkhead box O3) were significantly up-regulated, while aging-related genes (including mammalian target of rapamycin and nuclear factor kappa B) were down-regulated.
These results demonstrate that the HB diet is capable of promoting health and longevity, and present a sustainable source of healthy foods that can help control the prevalence of chronic diseases and reduce agricultural impact on the environment.”
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/29080417
https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0955286316303461?via%3Dihub
The Use of Cannabis and Cannabinoids in Treating Symptoms of Multiple Sclerosis: a Systematic Review of Reviews.
“Pharmaceutical cannabinoids such as nabiximols, nabilone and dronabinol, and plant-based cannabinoids have been investigated for their therapeutic potential in treating multiple sclerosis (MS) symptoms.
This review of reviews aimed to synthesise findings from high quality systematic reviews that examined the safety and effectiveness of cannabinoids in multiple sclerosis. We examined the outcomes of disability and disability progression, pain, spasticity, bladder function, tremor/ataxia, quality of life and adverse effects.
We identified 11 eligible systematic reviews providing data from 32 studies, including 10 moderate to high quality RCTs. Five reviews concluded that there was sufficient evidence that cannabinoids may be effective for symptoms of pain and/or spasticity in MS. Few reviews reported conclusions for other symptoms. Recent high quality reviews find cannabinoids may have modest effects in MS for pain or spasticity. Future research should include studies with non-cannabinoid comparators; this is an important gap in the evidence.” https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/29442178 https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007%2Fs11910-018-0814-x]]>Cannabinoid-induced cell death in endometrial cancer cells: involvement of TRPV1 receptors in apoptosis.
“Among a variety of phytocannabinoids, Δ9-tetrahydrocannabinol (THC) and cannabidiol (CBD) are the most promising therapeutic compounds. Besides the well-known palliative effects in cancer patients, cannabinoids have been shown to inhibit in vitro growth of tumor cells.
Likewise, the major endocannabinoids (eCBs), anandamide (AEA) and 2-arachidonoylglycerol (2-AG), induce tumor cell death.
The purpose of the present study was to characterize cannabinoid elements and evaluate the effect of cannabinoids in endometrial cancer cell viability.
These data indicate that cannabinoids modulate endometrial cancer cell death.
Selective targeting of TPRV1 by AEA, CBD, or other stable analogues may be an attractive research area for the treatment of estrogen-dependent endometrial carcinoma.
Our data further support the evaluation of CBD and CBD-rich extracts for the potential treatment of endometrial cancer, particularly, that has become non-responsive to common therapies.”
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/29441458
https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007%2Fs13105-018-0611-7
“Aldose reductase (ALR2) is a key enzyme involved in diabetic complications and the search for new aldose reductase inhibitors (ARIs) is currently very important.
The synthetic ARIs are often associated with deleterious side effects and medicinal and edible plants, containing compounds with aldose reductase inhibitory activity, could be useful for prevention and therapy of diabetic complications.
Non-psychotropic phytocannabinoids exert multiple pharmacological effects with therapeutic potential in many diseases such as inflammation, cancer, diabetes.
Here, we have investigated the inhibitory effects of extracts and their fractions from two Cannabis sativa L. chemotypes with high content of cannabidiol (CBD)/cannabidiolic acid (CBDA) and cannabigerol (CBG)/cannabigerolic acid (CBGA), respectively, on human recombinant and pig kidney aldose reductase activity in vitro.
A molecular docking study was performed to evaluate the interaction of these