“While most human research has concluded that the active ingredient of marijuana, Δ9-tetrahydrocannabinol, tends to dampen rather than provoke aggression in acute doses, recent evidence supports a relationship between the ingestion of synthetic cannabinoids and emergence of violent or aggressive behavior.
“Research suggests that daily cannabis users have impaired memory for past events, but it is not clear whether they are also impaired in prospective memory (PM) for future events.
The present study examined PM in daily cannabis users who were either dependent or non-dependent, and compared them with non-using controls.
Findings suggest that when carefully matched on baseline variables, and not differing in premorbid IQ or alcohol use, young, near-daily cannabis users do not differ from non-using controls in PM performance.”
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/29636705
https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fpsyt.2018.00097/full
“The National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine has found substantial evidence that cannabis (plant) is effective for the treatment of chronic pain in adults, and moderate evidence that oromucosal cannabinoids (extracts, especially nabiximols) improve short-term sleep disturbances in chronic pain. ” https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/29637590 https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1002/phar.2115]]>
“Cannabinoids are compounds with pleiotropic properties that act on the cannabinoid receptors, CB1 and CB2, and are divided into endocannabinoids, the endogenous ligands of these receptors, synthetic cannabinoids and phytocannabinoids. The latter are derived from the plant Cannabis sativa. The therapeutic and psychoactive properties of this plant have been observed and used for centuries. Of the over 60 compounds that are unique to Cannabis sativa, the substances that have been attributed the greatest therapeutic potential are Δ9 – tetrahydrocannabinol (THC) and cannabidiol (CBD), both of which, used alone or combined with each other, have become approved drugs.” https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/29633480 https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1111/ene.13658]]>
“The National Academies of Sciences, Engineering and Medicine conducted a rapid turn-around comprehensive review of recent medical literature on The Health Effects of Cannabis and Cannabinoids. In the Therapeutics chapter reviewed here, the report concluded that there was conclusive or substantial evidence that Cannabis or cannabinoids are effective for the treatment of pain in adults; chemotherapy-induced nausea and vomiting and spasticity associated with multiple sclerosis. Moderate evidence was found for secondary sleep disturbances. The evidence supporting improvement in appetite, Tourette syndrome, anxiety, posttraumatic stress disorder, cancer, irritable bowel syndrome, epilepsy and a variety of neurodegenerative disorders was described as limited, insufficient or absent. A chapter of the NASEM report enumerated multiple barriers to conducting research on Cannabis in the US that may explain the paucity of positive therapeutic benefits in the published literature to date. The 2017 National Academies of Sciences, Engineering and Medicine report, like the 1999 Institute of Medicine publication before it, did conclude that there is evidence to support the therapeutic effect of Cannabis and cannabinoids in a number of conditions. Although it is well appreciated that the plural of anecdote is not evidence, it must also be remembered that in the case of evaluating the therapeutic effects of Cannabis as published in the medical literature, the absence of evidence is not necessarily indicative of evidence of the absence of effectiveness. ” http://www.ejinme.com/article/S0953-6205(18)30003-7/fulltext
“The use of different natural and/or synthetic preparations of Cannabis sativa is associated with therapeutic strategies for many diseases. Indeed, thanks to the widespread diffusion of the cannabinoidergic system in the brain and in the peripheral districts, its stimulation, or inhibition, regulates many pathophysiological phenomena.
In particular, central activation of the cannabinoidergic system modulates the limbic and mesolimbic response which leads to food craving.
Moreover, cannabinoid agonists are able to reduce inflammatory response.
In this review a brief history of cannabinoids and the protagonists of the endocannabinoidergic system, i.e. synthesis and degradation enzymes and main receptors, will be described. Furthermore, the pharmacological effects of cannabinoids will be outlined. An overview of the involvement of the endocannabinoidergic system in neuroinflammatory and metabolic pathologies will be made.
Finally, particular attention will also be given to the new pharmacological entities acting on the two main receptors, cannabinoid receptor type 1 (CB1) and cannabinoid receptor type 2 (CB2), with particular focus on the neuroinflammatory and metabolic mechanisms involved.”
“Long term exposure to stress has been demonstrated to cause neuroinflammation through a sustained overproduction of free radicals, including nitric oxide, via an increased inducible nitric oxide synthase (iNOS) activity.
Similar to nitric oxide, endocannabinoids are synthesised on demand, with preclinical observations suggesting that cannabinoid receptor agonists and endocannabinoid enhancers inhibit nitrergic activity.
RESULTS:
The results demonstrate that pre-treatment with PF-3845 rapidly ameliorates plasma corticosterone release at 60 minutes of stress. An increase in endocannabinoid signalling also induces an overall attenuation in iNOS, tumor necrosis factor-alpha convertase, interleukin-6, cyclooxygenase-2, peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor gamma mRNA, and the transactivation potential of NF-κB in the hippocampus.
“We examined the effects of essential oil from legal (THC <0.2% w/v) hemp variety on the nervous system in 5 healthy volunteers. GC/EIMS and GC/FID analysis of the EO showed that the main components were myrcene and β-caryophyllene.
The experiment consisted of measuring autonomic nervous system (ANS) parameters; evaluations of the mood state; and electroencephalography (EEG) recording before treatment, during treatment, and after hemp inhalation periods as compared with control conditions. The results revealed decreased diastolic blood pressure, increased heart rate, and significant increased skin temperature.
The subjects described themselves as more energetic, relaxed, and calm.
The analysis EEG showed a significant increase in the mean frequency of alpha (8-13 Hz) and significant decreased mean frequency and relative power of beta 2 (18,5-30 Hz) waves. Moreover, an increased power, relative power, and amplitude of theta (4-8 Hz) and alpha brain waves activities and an increment in the delta wave (0,5-4 Hz) power and relative power was recorded in the posterior region of the brain.
These results suggest that the brain wave activity and ANS are affected by the inhalation of the EO of Cannabis sativa suggesting a neuromodular activity in cases of stress, depression, and anxiety.”
“A generally undesired effect of cannabis smoking is a reversible disruption of short term memory induced by delta-9-tetrahydrocannabinol (THC), the primary psychoactive component of cannabis. However, this paradigm has been recently challenged by a group of scientists who have shown that THC is also able to improve neurological function in old animals when chronically administered at low concentrations. Moreover, recent studies demonstrated that THC paradoxically promotes hippocampal neurogenesis, prevents neurodegenerative process occurring in Alzheimer Disease, protects from inflammation-induced cognitive damage and restores memory and cognitive function in old mice. With the aim to reconcile these seemingly contradictory facts, the present work will show that such paradox can be explained within the framework of hormesis, defined as biphasic dose responses. ” https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/29574698 https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1111/eci.12920]]>
“CB2 receptors up-regulate in reactive microglia in the spinal cord of TDP-43(A315T) transgenic mice, an experimental model of ALS. To determine whether such up-regulation may be pharmacologically exploited, we investigated different treatments modulating the CB2 receptor function.