Category Archives: Brain Trauma

Cannabidiol alleviates hemorrhagic shock-induced neural apoptosis in rats by inducing autophagy through activation of the PI3K/AKT pathway.

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Publication cover image“Recently, several studies have reported that the pharmacological effects exerted by cannabidiol (CBD) are partially related to the regulation of autophagy. Increasing evidence indicates that autophagy provides protection against ischemia-induced brain injury. However, the protective effect of CBD against mitochondrial-dependent apoptosis in hemorrhagic shock (HS)-induced brain injury has not been studied.

In the present study, we observed the protective effects of CBD against neural mitochondrial-dependent apoptosis in a rat model of HS. In addition, CBD increased Beclin-1 and LC3II expression and reduced P62 expression, which were indicative of autophagy. CBD treatment attenuated the neural apoptosis induced by HS, as reflected by restoring mitochondrial dysfunction, downregulation of BAX, neuro-apoptosis ratio and NF-κB signaling activation, and upregulation of BCL2 in the cerebral cortex.

Such protective effects were reversed by 3-Methyladenine, a specific autophagy inhibitor, indicating that the protective effects of CBD treatment involved autophagy. LY294002, a PI3K inhibitor, significantly inhibited CBD-induced autophagy, demonstrating that PI3K/AKT signaling is involved in the CBD’s regulation of autophagy. Furthermore, we found that CBD treatment upregulated PI3K/AKT signaling via cannabinoid receptor 1.

Therefore, these findings suggested that CBD treatment protects against cerebral injury induced by HS-mediated mitochondrial-dependent apoptosis by activating the PI3K/AKT signaling pathway to reinforce autophagy.”

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/32215966

https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1111/fcp.12557

“Hemorrhagic shock occurs when the body begins to shut down due to large amounts of blood loss.” https://www.healthline.com/health/hemorrhagic-shock

Cannabidiol in sport : ergogenic or else?

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Pharmacological Research“In the sports domain, cannabis is prohibited by the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) across all sports in competition since 2004. The few studies on physical exercise and cannabis focused on the main compound i.e. Δ9-tetrahydrocannabinol. Cannabidiol (CBD) is another well-known phytocannabinoid present in dried or heated preparations of cannabis. Unlike Δ9-tetrahydrocannabinol, CBD is non-intoxicating but exhibits pharmacological properties that are interesting for medical use.

The worldwide regulatory status of CBD is complex and this compound is still a controlled substance in many countries. Interestingly, however, the World Anti-Doping Agency removed CBD from the list of prohibited substances – in or out of competition – since 2018. This recent decision by the WADA leaves the door open for CBD use by athletes.

In the present opinion article we wish to expose the different CBD properties discovered in preclinical studies that could be further tested in the sport domain to ascertain its utility. Preclinical studies suggest that CBD could be useful to athletes due to its anti-inflammatory, analgesic, anxiolytic, neuroprotective properties and its influence on the sleep-wake cycle. Unfortunately, almost no clinical data are available on CBD in the context of exercise, which makes its use in this context still premature.”

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/32205233

“Athletes could benefit from CBD to manage pain, inflammation and the swelling processes associated with injury. CBD could be useful to manage anxiety, fear memory process, sleep and sleepiness in athletes. CBD could be interesting for the management of mild traumatic brain injury and chronic traumatic encephalopathy.”

https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S1043661819326143?via%3Dihub

Matched pilot study examining cannabis-based dronabinol for acute pain following traumatic injury.

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BMJ Journals“To determine whether adjunctive dronabinol, a licensed form of delta-9-tetrahydrocannabinol, reduces opioid consumption when used off-label for managing acute pain following traumatic injury.

CONCLUSIONS:

The results of this study suggest adjunctive dronabinol reduces opioid consumption following traumatic injury.

The opioid-sparing effect of dronabinol may be greater in patients who are marijuana users.”

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/32154376

https://tsaco.bmj.com/content/5/1/e000391

Cannabinoids and the expanded endocannabinoid system in neurological disorders.

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 Related image“Anecdotal evidence that cannabis preparations have medical benefits together with the discovery of the psychotropic plant cannabinoid Δ9-tetrahydrocannabinol (THC) initiated efforts to develop cannabinoid-based therapeutics.

These efforts have been marked by disappointment, especially in relation to the unwanted central effects that result from activation of cannabinoid receptor 1 (CB1), which have limited the therapeutic use of drugs that activate or inactivate this receptor.

The discovery of CB2 and of endogenous cannabinoid receptor ligands (endocannabinoids) raised new possibilities for safe targeting of this endocannabinoid system. However, clinical success has been limited, complicated by the discovery of an expanded endocannabinoid system – known as the endocannabinoidome – that includes several mediators that are biochemically related to the endocannabinoids, and their receptors and metabolic enzymes.

The approvals of nabiximols, a mixture of THC and the non-psychotropic cannabinoid cannabidiol, for the treatment of spasticity and neuropathic pain in multiple sclerosis, and of purified botanical cannabidiol for the treatment of otherwise untreatable forms of paediatric epilepsy, have brought the therapeutic use of cannabinoids and endocannabinoids in neurological diseases into the limelight.

In this Review, we provide an overview of the endocannabinoid system and the endocannabinoidome before discussing their involvement in and clinical relevance to a variety of neurological disorders, including Parkinson disease, Alzheimer disease, Huntington disease, multiple sclerosis, amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, traumatic brain injury, stroke, epilepsy and glioblastoma.”

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/31831863

“The existence of the endocannabinoidome explains in part why some non-euphoric cannabinoids, which affect several endocannabinoidome proteins, are useful for the treatment of neurological disorders, such as multiple sclerosis and epilepsy.”

https://www.nature.com/articles/s41582-019-0284-z

Bone Anabolic Response in the Calvaria Following Mild Traumatic Brain Injury is Mediated by the Cannabinoid-1 Receptor.

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 Scientific Reports“Brain trauma was clinically associated with increased osteogenesis in the appendicular skeleton. We showed previously in C57BL/6J mice that mild traumatic brain injury (mTBI) transiently induced bone formation in the femur via the cannabinoid-1 (CB1) receptor. Here, we subjected ICR mice to mTBI and examined the bone response in the skull using microCT. We also measured mast cell degranulation (MCD)72 h post-injury. Finally, we measured brain and calvarial endocannabinoids levels post-mTBI. mTBI led to decreased bone porosity on the contralateral (untouched) side. This effect was apparent both in young and mature mice. Administration of rimonabant (CB1 inverse agonist) completely abrogated the effect of mTBI on calvarial porosity and significantly reduced MCD, compared with vehicle-treated controls. We also found that mTBI resulted in elevated levels of anandamide, but not 2-arachidonoylglycerol, in the contralateral calvarial bone, whereas brain levels remained unchanged. In C57BL/6J CB1 knockout mice, mTBI did not reduce porosity but in general the porosity was significantly lower than in WT controls. Our findings suggest that mTBI induces a strain-specific CB1-dependent bone anabolic response in the skull, probably mediated by anandamide, but seemingly unrelated to inflammation. The endocannabinoid system is therefore a plausible target in management of bone response following head trauma.”

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/31700010

https://www.nature.com/articles/s41598-019-51720-w

Cannabis, alcohol and cigarette use during the acute post-concussion period.

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Publication Cover

“Objective: To document the prevalence of acute post-concussion cannabis, alcohol and cigarette use and their association with clinical recovery and symptom burden.

Results: A total of 307 acute concussions with a mean age of 33.7 years (SD, 13.0) were included. Acute post-concussion cannabis, alcohol and cigarette use were identified in 43 (14.0%), 125 (40.7%) and 61 (19.9%) individuals. Acute cannabis, alcohol and cigarette use were not associated with recovery to cognitive (p > .05) or physical activity (p > .05). Acute cigarette use was associated with a higher unadjusted symptom severity score at week1 (p = .003). Acute cannabis use was associated with lower symptom severity scores at week-3 (p = .061) and week-4 (p = .029).

Conclusion: In conclusion, cannabis, alcohol and cigarette use were prevalent in the acute period post-concussion; however, were not observed to impact recovery within the first 4 weeks post-injury. Amongst unrecovered individuals, acute cannabis use was associated with lower symptom burden, while cigarette use was associated with greater initial symptom burden.”

 https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/31621424
https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/02699052.2019.1679885?journalCode=ibij20

Cannabidiol improves vocal learning-dependent recovery from, and reduces magnitude of deficits following, damage to a cortical-like brain region in a songbird pre-clinical animal model.

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Neuropharmacology“Cannabidiol (CBD), a non-euphorigenic compound derived from Cannabis, shows promise for improving recovery following cerebral ischemia and has recently been shown effective for the treatment of childhood seizures caused by Dravet and Lennox-Gastaut syndromes.

Given evidence for activity to mitigate effects of CNS insult and dysfunction, we considered the possibility that CBD may also protect and improve functional recovery of a complex learned behavior. To test this hypothesis, we have applied a songbird, the adult male zebra finch, as a novel pre-clinical animal model.

Results indicate 10 and 100 mg/kg CBD effectively reduced the time required to recover vocal phonology and syntax. In the case of phonology, the magnitude of microlesion-related disruptions were also reduced.

These results suggest CBD holds promise to improve functional recovery of complex learned behaviors following brain injury, and represent establishment of an important new animal model to screen drugs for efficacy to improve vocal recovery.”

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/31325430

https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0028390818305343?via%3Dihub

The Endocannabinoid System and its Modulation by Cannabidiol (CBD).

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Image result for Altern Ther Health Med. “The endocannabinoid system (ECS) is an extensive endogenous signaling system with multiple elements, the number of which may be increasing as scientists continue to elucidate its role in human health and disease. The ECS is seemingly ubiquitous in animal species and is modulated by diet, sleep, exercise, stress, and a multitude of other factors, including exposure to phytocannabinoids, like Cannabidiol (CBD). Modulating the activity of this system may offer tremendous therapeutic promise for a diverse scope of diseases, ranging from mental health disorders, neurological and movement disorders, pain, autoimmune disease, spinal cord injury, cancer, cardiometabolic disease, stroke, TBI, osteoporosis, and others.”

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/31202198

Effects of cannabidiol on alcohol-related outcomes: A review of preclinical and human research.

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Cover image for Experimental and Clinical Psychopharmacology

“This article reviews preclinical and human studies examining the effects of CBD administration on alcohol responses. Preliminary preclinical results suggest that CBD can attenuate alcohol consumption and potentially protect against certain harmful effects of alcohol, such as liver and brain damage.”

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/31120285

https://psycnet.apa.org/doiLanding?doi=10.1037%2Fpha0000272

Therapeutic prospects of cannabidiol for alcohol use disorder and alcohol-related damages on the liver and the brain

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 Image result for frontiers in pharmacology“Cannabidiol (CBD) is a natural compound of cannabis, which exerts complex and widespread immunomodulatory, antioxidant, anxiolytic, and antiepileptic properties. Many experimental data suggest that CBD could have several types of application in alcohol use disorder (AUD) and alcohol-related damage on the brain and the liver.

Experimental studies converge to find that CBD reduces the overall level of alcohol drinking in animal models of AUD by reducing ethanol intake, motivation for ethanol, relapse, and by decreasing anxiety and impulsivity. Moreover, CBD has been shown to reduce alcohol-related steatosis and fibrosis in the liver by reducing lipid accumulation, stimulating autophagy, modulating inflammation, reducing oxidative stress, and inducing death of activated hepatic stellate cells. Last, CBD has been found to reduce alcohol-related brain damage, preventing neuronal loss by its antioxidant and immunomodulatory properties.

CBD could directly reduce alcohol drinking in subjects with AUD. But other original applications warrant human trials in this population. By reducing alcohol-related processes of steatosis in the liver, and brain alcohol-related damage, CBD could improve both the hepatic and neurocognitive outcomes of subjects with AUD, regardless of the individual drinking trajectories. This might pave the way for testing new harm reduction approaches in AUD, i.e., for protecting the organs of subjects with an ongoing AUD.”

https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fphar.2019.00627/abstract