“Cannabinoids modulate intestinal permeability through CB1.
The endocannabinoid-like compounds oleoylethanolamine (OEA) and palmitoylethanolamine (PEA) play an important role in digestive regulation, and we hypothesized they would also modulate intestinal permeability.
OEA and PEA have endogenous roles and potential therapeutic applications in conditions of intestinal hyperpermeability and inflammation.”
“Cannabis enables and enhances the subjective sense of well-being by stimulating the endocannabinoid system (ECS), which plays a key role in modulating the response to stress, reward, and their interactions.
The recent shift toward legalization of medical or recreational cannabis has renewed interest in investigating the physiological role of the ECS as well as the potential health effects, both adverse and beneficial, of cannabis.
Here we review our current understanding of the ECS and its complex physiological roles.
We discuss the implications of this understanding vis-á-vis the ECS’s modulation of stress and reward and its relevance to mental disorders in which these processes are disrupted (i.e., addiction, depression, posttraumatic stress disorder, schizophrenia), along with the therapeutic potential of strategies to manipulate the ECS for these conditions.”
“Myocardial interstitial fibrosis is a major histologic landmark resulting in cardiac dysfunction after myocardial infarction (MI).
Activation of cannabinoid receptor type II (CB2 receptor) have been demonstrated to reduce fibrosis in hepatic cirrhotic rat.
In this study, we aimed to investigate the effects of a CB2 receptor selective agonist AM1241 on myocardial fibrosis post MI in mice.
CB2 receptor agonist AM1241 alleviated myocardial interstitial fibrosis via Nrf2 -mediated down-regulation of TGF-β1/Smad3 pathway, which suggested that CB2 receptor activation might represent a promising target for retarding cardiac fibrosis after MI.”
“Pediatric low-grade gliomas (P-LGG) consist of a mixed group of brain tumors that correspond to the majority of CNS tumors in children.
Notably, they may exhibit spontaneous involution after subtotal surgical removal (STR). In this study, we investigated molecular indicators of spontaneous involution in P-LGG.
The P-LGG, which remained stable or that presented spontaneous involution after STR, showed significantly higher CNR1 expression at the time of diagnosis.
We hypothesize that high expression levels of CNR1 provide tumor susceptibility to the antitumor effects of circulating endocannabinoids like anandamide, resulting in tumor involution.
This corroborates with reports suggesting that CNR1 agonists and activators of the endocannabinoid system may represent therapeutic opportunities for children with LGG.
We also suggest that CNR1 may be a prognostic marker for P-LGG.
This is the first time spontaneous involution of P-LGG has been suggested to be induced by endocannabinoids.”
“Activation of cannabinoid receptor 2 (CB2R) ameliorates inflammation, but the underlying mechanism remains unclear.
In the present study, we examined whether activation of CB2R could suppress the nucleotide-binding domain and leucine-rich repeat protein 3 (NLRP3) inflammasome.
We conclude that activation of CB2R ameliorates DSS-induced colitis through enhancing autophagy that may inhibit NLRP3 inflammasome activation in macrophages.”
“We provide evidence for the presence of cannabinoid CB2 receptors in some cellular types of the cochlea of the adult albino rat. Cannabinoids and their receptors are increasingly being studied because of their high potential for clinical use. As a hyperspecialized portion of the peripheral nervous system, study of the expression and function of cannabinoid receptors in the hearing organ is of high interest. Stria vascularis and inner hair cells express CB2 receptor, as well as neurites and cell bodies of the spiral ganglion. Cellular types such as supporting cells and outer hair cells, in which the expression of other types of functional receptors has been reported, do not significantly express CB2 receptors in this study. An up-regulation of CB2 gene expression was detected after an ototoxic event such as cisplatin treatment, probably due to pro-inflammatory events triggered by the drug. That fact suggests promising potential of CB2receptor as a therapeutic target for new treatments to palliate cisplatin-induced hearing loss and other ototoxic events which triggers inflammatory pathways.” http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/27564061
“In conclusion, evidence for the presence of cannabinoid CB2 receptor by immunohystochemistry and by RT-qPCR was provided. An immunolabeling of CB2 antibodies in four structures of the adult rat cochlea was found. That was, stria vascularis, inner hair cells, auditory afferent nerves and cell bodies of the spiral ganglion. Up-regulation of CB2 gene expression in animals exposed to CDDP treatment was also detected, when compared with healthy animals. This fact was partially supported by the higher immunofluorescence observed in the stria vascularis of CDDP-treated animals if compared with the healthy ones. These results suggest a considerable promising potential of CB2 receptor as a target of new treatments against CDDP-induced ototoxicity, and probably against other inflammatory diseases in the inner ear. Further research is needed to determine the functionality of CB2receptors in the organ of Corti and the potential therapeutic role of agonists and antagonists of these receptors.” http://journals.plos.org/plosone/article?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0161954
“Study: Cannabinoids a Potential Treatment Option for Chemotherapy-Induced Hearing Loss” http://www.theweedblog.com/study-cannabinoids-potential-treatment-option-chemotherapy-induced-hearing-loss/
“Converging evidence suggests that an imbalance of ω3 to ω6 polyunsaturated fatty acid (PUFA) in the brain is involved in mental illnesses such as anxiety disorders.
We previously reported that the dietary ratio of ω3 to ω6 PUFA alters this ratio in the brain, and influences contextual fear memory.
In addition to behavioral change, enhancement of cannabinoid CB1 receptor-mediated short-term synaptic plasticity and facilitation of the agonist sensitivity of CB1 receptors have been observed in excitatory synaptic responses in the basolateral nucleus of the amygdala (BLA).
These results suggest that the balance of ω3 to ω6 PUFA has an impact on fear memory and cortico-amygdala synaptic plasticity, both in a CB1 receptor-dependent manner.”
“Endocannabinoids and cannabinoid receptors are expressed in various central pain modulation regions. They maintain in dynamic changes in the expression level and distribution under different pathological and physiological conditions. These changes possess advantage as well as disadvantage. Exogenous administration of endocannabinoids exerts analgesic effect in different pain models, which is mainly mediated by the cannabinoid CB1 and CB2 receptors. Inhibition of enzymes for degrading endocannabinoids in different pain models also shows analgesic effect due to the increased local levels of endocannabinoids.”
“Vascular dementia is the second most common cause of cognitive decline in aged people but the effectual therapeutic target is still missing.
Chronic cerebral hypoperfusion (CCH) has been widely found in vascular dementia (VaD) patients. CCH is thought to link with neurodegenerative disorders and their subsequent cognitive impairment.
The present study has been framed to investigate the role of selective agonist of CB2 receptor (1-phenylisatin) in CCH induced VaD.
These results indicate that 2VO induced CCH in rats, which was attenuated with the treatment of 1-phenylisatin.
Hence, it may be suggested that modulation in cannabinoid receptor may provide benefits in CCH as cognitive impairment and VaD.
Therefore, pharmacological positive modulation of CB2 receptors may be a potential research target for alleviation of VaD.”
“Since the discovery of the endocannabinoid system consisting of cannabinoid receptors, endogenous ligands, and biosynthetic and metabolizing enzymes, interest has been renewed in investigating the promise of cannabinoids as therapeutic agents.
Abundant evidence indicates that cannabinoids modulate immune responses.
An inflammatory response is triggered when innate immune cells receive a danger signal provided by pathogen- or damage-associated molecular patterns engaging pattern-recognition receptors.
Toll-like receptor family members are prominent pattern-recognition receptors expressed on innate immune cells.
Cannabinoids suppress Toll-like receptor-mediated inflammatory responses.
Innate immune cells express cannabinoid receptors and produce endogenous cannabinoids.
Hence, innate immune cells may play a role in regulating endocannabinoid homeostasis, and, in turn, the endocannabinoid system modulates local inflammatory responses.
Studies designed to probe the interaction between the innate immune system and the endocannabinoid system may identify new potential molecular targets in developing therapeutic strategies for chronic inflammatory diseases.
This review discusses the endocannabinoid system and Toll-like receptor family and evaluates the interaction between them.”