Category Archives: Endocannabinoid System

CB2 receptor-selective agonists as candidates for targeting infection, inflammation, and immunity in SARS-CoV-2 infections

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“The COVID-19 pandemic caused by SARS-CoV-2 is a deadly disease afflicting millions. The pandemic continues affecting population due to nonavailability of drugs and vaccines. The pathogenesis and complications of infection mainly involve hyperimmune-inflammatory responses. Thus, therapeutic strategies rely on repurposing of drugs aimed at reducing infectivity and inflammation and modulate immunity favourably.

Among, numerous therapeutic targets, the endocannabinoid system, particularly activation of cannabinoid type-2 receptors (CB2R) emerged as an important one to suppress the hyperimmune-inflammatory responses. Recently, potent antiinflammatory, antiviral and immunomodulatory properties of CB2R selective ligands of endogenous, plant, and synthetic origin were showed mediating CB2R selective functional agonism.

CB2R activation appears to regulate numerous signaling pathways to control immune-inflammatory mediators including cytokines, chemokines, adhesion molecules, prostanoids, and eicosanoids. Many CB2R ligands also exhibit off-target effects mediating activation of PPARs, opioids, and TRPV, suggestive of adjuvant use with existing drugs that may maximize efficacy synergistically and minimize therapeutic doses to limit adverse/ side effects.

We hypothesize that CB2R agonists, due to immunomodulatory, antiinflammatory, and antiviral properties may show activity against COVID-19. Based on the organoprotective potential, relative safety, lack of psychotropic effects, and druggable properties, CB2R selective ligands might make available promising candidates for further investigation.”

https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/33190277/

https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/ddr.21752

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The Therapeutic Potential of Cannabinoids for Integumentary Wound Management

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“The increasing legalization of Cannabis for recreational and medicinal purposes in the United States has spurred renewed interest in the therapeutic potential of cannabinoids (CBs) for human disease.

The skin has its own endocannabinoid system (eCS) which is a key regulator of various homeostatic processes, including those necessary for normal physiologic wound healing.

Data on the use of CBs for wound healing is scarce. Compelling pre-clinical evidence supporting the therapeutic potential of CBs to improve wound healing by modulating key molecular pathways is herein reviewed.

These findings merit further exploration in basic science, translational and clinical studies.”

https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/33205468/

https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/exd.14241

Cannabis: are there any benefits?

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“Cannabis has been used as a medicine for millennia. Prohibition in the mid-20th century precluded early scientific investigation.

‘Cannabis’ describes three separate forms – herbal cannabis, ‘hemp’ products, pharmaceutical-grade regulated cannabinoid-based medical products (CBMP).

The endocannabinoid system (ECS), delineated in the late 1990s, has increased the understanding and interest in research for appropriate clinical indications. The ubiquitous ECS has homeostatic and anti-inflammatory effects and comprises cannabinoid receptors, endocannabinoids and degrading enzymes.

Phytocannabinoids are partial agonists of the ECS. In pre-clinical studies, THC and CBD produce beneficial effects in chronic pain, anxiety, sleep and inflammation. Systematic reviews often conflate herbal cannabis and CBMP, confusing the evidence. Currently large randomised controlled trials are unlikely to be achieved. Other methodologies with quality end-points are required. Rich, valuable high-quality real-world evidence for the safe and effective use of CBMP provides an opportunity to examine benefits and potential harms.

Evidence demonstrates benefit of CBMP in multiple sclerosis, chronic neuropathic pain, chemotherapy induced nausea and vomiting, resistant paediatric epilepsy, anxiety and insomnia. CBMP are well tolerated with few serious adverse events. Additional clinical benefits are promising in many other resistant chronic conditions. Pharmaceutical grade prescribed CBMP has proven clinical benefits and provides another clinical option in the physician’s pharmacopeia.”

https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/33215831/

“Medical use of cannabis has been practiced for millennia and pre‐dates recorded human history.”

https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/imj.15052

Therapeutic Applications of Cannabinoids in Cardiomyopathy and Heart Failure

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 logo“A large number of cannabinoids have been discovered that could play a role in mitigating cardiac affections. However, none of them has been as widely studied as cannabidiol (CBD), most likely because, individually, the others offer only partial effects or can activate potential harmful pathways.

In this regard, CBD has proven to be of great value as a cardioprotective agent since it is a potent antioxidant and anti-inflammatory molecule. Thus, we conducted a review to condensate the currently available knowledge on CBD as a therapy for different experimental models of cardiomyopathies and heart failure to detect the molecular pathways involved in cardiac protection.

CBD therapy can greatly limit the production of oxygen/nitrogen reactive species, thereby limiting cellular damage, protecting mitochondria, avoiding caspase activation, and regulating ionic homeostasis. Hence, it can affect myocardial contraction by restricting the activation of inflammatory pathways and cytokine secretion, lowering tissular infiltration by immune cells, and reducing the area of infarct and fibrosis formation. These effects are mediated by the activation or inhibition of different receptors and target molecules of the endocannabinoid system.

In the final part of this review, we explore the current state of CBD in clinical trials as a treatment for cardiovascular diseases and provide evidence of its potential benefits in humans.”

https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/33194003/

https://www.hindawi.com/journals/omcl/2020/4587024/

The endocannabinoidome as a substrate for noneuphoric phytocannabinoid action and gut microbiome dysfunction in neuropsychiatric disorders

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“The endocannabinoid (eCB) system encompasses the eCBs anandamide and 2-arachidonoylglycerol, their anabolic/catabolic enzymes, and the cannabinoid CB1 and CB2 receptors. Its expansion to include several eCB-like lipid mediators, their metabolic enzymes, and their molecular targets, forms the endocannabinoidome (eCBome).

This complex signaling system is deeply involved in the onset, progress, and symptoms of major neuropsychiatric disorders and provides a substrate for future therapeutic drugs against these diseases. Such drugs may include not only THC, the major psychotropic component of cannabis, but also other, noneuphoric plant cannabinoids.

These compounds, unlike THC, possess a wide therapeutic window, possibly due to their capability of hitting several eCBome and non-eCBome receptors. This is particularly true for cannabidiol, which is one of the most studied cannabinoids and shows promise for the treatment of a wide range of mental and mood disorders. The eCBome plays a role also in the microbiota-gut-brain axis, which is emerging as an important actor in the control of affective and cognitive functions and in their pathological alterations.”

https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/33162769/

https://www.dialogues-cns.org/dialoguesclinneurosci-22-259/

History of cannabis and the endocannabinoid system

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“This article retraces the story of cannabis from the earliest contacts of humans with the plant to its subsequent global expansion, its medicinal uses, and the discovery of the endocannabinoid system in the 20th century. Cannabis was attested to around 12 000 years ago near the Altai Mountains in Central Asia, and since then, cannabis seeds have accompanied the migration of nomadic peoples. Records of the medicinal use of cannabis appear before the Common Era in China, Egypt, and Greece (Herodotus), and later in the Roman empire (Pliny the Elder, Dioscorides, Galen). In the 19th century, orientalists like Silvestre de Sacy, and Western physicians coming into contact with Muslim and Indian cultures, like O’Shaughnessy and Moreau de Tours, introduced the medicinal use of cannabis into Europe. The structure of the main psychoactive phytocannabinoid, tetrahydrocannabinol (THC), was determined in Israel by Mechoulam and Gaoni in 1964. This discovery opened the gate for many of the subsequent developments in the field of endocannabinoid system (ECS) research. The advances in the scientific knowledge of the ECS place the debate on cannabis liberalization in a new context.”

https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/33162765/

https://www.dialogues-cns.org/dialoguesclinneurosci-22-223/

Plant-derived natural therapeutics targeting cannabinoid receptors in metabolic syndrome and its complications: A review

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 Biomedicine & Pharmacotherapy“The endocannabinoid system (ECS) is natural physiological system in the humans. The presence of the ECS system involves different roles in body. The endocannabinoid system involves regulation of most of the centers, which regulates the hunger and leads to changes in the weight.

In the present article, we reviewed the role of natural cannabinoid compounds in metabolic disorders and related complications. We studied variety of a plant-derived cannabinoids in treating the metabolic syndrome including stoutness, fatty acid liver diseases, insulin obstruction, dementia, hypertension, lipid abnormalities, non-alcoholic steatohepatitis, endothelial damage, and polycystic ovarian syndrome and so on.

The activation of cannabinoid receptors demonstrates a significant number of beneficial approaches concerning metabolic syndrome and reduces the pro-inflammatory cytokines on account of aggravation, decreased oxidative stress and uneasiness, diminishes liver fibrosis, with reduces adiponectin.

Pre-clinical investigations of plant-derived cannabinoids resulted in promising outcomes.

The different distinctive plant-derived cannabinoids were discovered like cannabidiol (CBD), cannabinol (CBN), cannabichromene (CBC), and cannabidiol (CBG). It has been observed that endogenous cannabinoids and plant-derived cannabinoids have an advantageous impact on limiting the metabolic disorder arising due to lifestyle changes.”

https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/33113429/

https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0753332220310817?via%3Dihub

Cannabinoid Receptor Subtype 2 (CB2R) in a Multitarget Approach: Perspective of an Innovative Strategy in Cancer and Neurodegeneration

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 Go to Volume 0, Issue 0“The cannabinoid receptor subtype 2 (CB2R) represents an interesting and new therapeutic target for its involvement in the first steps of neurodegeneration as well as in cancer onset and progression.

Several studies, focused on different types of tumors, report a promising anticancer activity induced by CB2R agonists due to their ability to reduce inflammation and cell proliferation. Moreover, in neuroinflammation, the stimulation of CB2R, overexpressed in microglial cells, exerts beneficial effects in neurodegenerative disorders.

With the aim to overcome current treatment limitations, new drugs can be developed by specifically modulating, together with CB2R, other targets involved in such multifactorial disorders.

Building on successful case studies of already developed multitarget strategies involving CB2R, in this Perspective we aim at prompting the scientific community to consider new promising target associations involving HDACs (histone deacetylases) and σ receptors by employing modern approaches based on molecular hybridization, computational polypharmacology, and machine learning algorithms.”

https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/33094613/

https://pubs.acs.org/doi/10.1021/acs.jmedchem.0c01357

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The Activation of Cannabinoid Type-2 Receptor with JWH-133 Protects Uterine Ischemia/Reperfusion-Induced Damage

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 Pharmacology - Home - Karger Publishers“Uterus transplantation is a complex surgical procedure. Uterine ischemia/reperfusion (IR) damage occurring in this process may cause loss of function in the uterus. Cell damage must be prevented for a healthy uterine function and successful transplantation.

Cannabinoids, with their increasing clinical use, are substances with strong anti-inflammatory and antioxidative effects and have a role in immune system regulation. However, their efficacy in uterine IR damage is still unknown.

This study provides information on the potential applications cannabinoids agonist JWH-133 in uterine IR damage and, hence, in the transplant process.

Results: In the uterine IR group, NF-κB expression and MDA levels were detected at high levels. Histopathological examinations and TUNEL staining revealed extensive cell damage. On the other hand, in groups treated with JWH-133, dose-dependent NF-κB expression and MDA levels decreased (p < 0.05). Depending on the dose, the rate of surviving cells increased in TUNEL staining results.

Conclusion: The results showed that JWH-133 was effective in reducing uterine IR damage. Cannabinoids may be a new alternative that may be used in the transplantation process in the future.”

https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/33105141/

https://www.karger.com/Article/Abstract/511457

Cannabinoids in Metabolic Syndrome and Cardiac Fibrosis

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 SpringerLink“This article provides a concise overview of how cannabinoids and the endocannabinoid system (ECS) have significant implications for the prevention and treatment of metabolic syndrome (MetS) and for the treatment of cardiovascular disorders, including cardiac fibrosis.

Recent findings: Over the past few years, the ECS has emerged as a pivotal component of the homeostatic mechanisms for the regulation of many bodily functions, including inflammation, digestion, and energy metabolism. Therefore, the pharmacological modulation of the ECS by cannabinoids represents a novel strategy for the management of many diseases. Specifically, increasing evidence from preclinical research studies has opened new avenues for the development of cannabinoid-based therapies for the management and potential treatment of MetS and cardiovascular diseases. Current information indicates that modulation of the ECS can help maintain overall health and well-being due to its homeostatic function. From a therapeutic perspective, cannabinoids and the ECS have also been shown to play a key role in modulating pathophysiological states such as inflammatory, neurodegenerative, gastrointestinal, metabolic, and cardiovascular diseases, as well as cancer and pain. Thus, targeting and modulating the ECS with cannabinoids or cannabinoid derivatives may represent a major disease-modifying medical advancement to achieve successful treatment for MetS and certain cardiovascular diseases.”

https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/33089434/

https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007%2Fs11906-020-01112-7