Biological bases for a possible effect of cannabidiol in Parkinson’s disease.

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 SciELO - Scientific Electronic Library Online“Current pharmacotherapy of Parkinson’s disease (PD) is palliative and unable to modify the progression of neurodegeneration. Treatments that can improve patients’ quality of life with fewer side effects are needed, but not yet available.

Cannabidiol (CBD), the major non-psychotomimetic constituent of cannabis, has received considerable research attention in the last decade. In this context, we aimed to critically review the literature on potential therapeutic effects of CBD in PD and discuss clinical and preclinical evidence supporting the putative neuroprotective mechanisms of CBD.

RESULTS:

Few studies addressed the biological bases for the purported effects of CBD on PD. Six preclinical studies showed neuroprotective effects, while three targeted the antidyskinetic effects of CBD. Three human studies have tested CBD in patients with PD: an open-label study, a case series, and a randomized controlled trial. These studies reported therapeutic effects of CBD on non-motor symptoms.

CONCLUSIONS:

Additional research is needed to elucidate the potential effectiveness of CBD in PD and the underlying mechanisms involved.”

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/31314869

http://www.scielo.br/scielo.php?script=sci_arttext&pid=S1516-44462019005012104&tlng=en

Cannabinoid receptors in osteoporosis and osteoporotic pain: a narrative update of review.

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Journal of Pharmacy and Pharmacology banner“Osteoporosis is a skeletal disease with decreased bone mass and alteration in microarchitecture of bone tissue, and these changes put patients in risk of bone fracture. As a common symptom of osteoporosis and complication of osteoporotic fracture, chronic pain is a headache for clinicians. Nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs), selective COX-2 inhibitors and opioid drugs can temporarily reduce osteoporotic pain but have relevant side effects, such as addiction, tolerability and safety. The review summarized the recent advancements in the study of CB receptors in osteoporosis and osteoporotic pain and related mechanisms.

KEY FINDINGS:

Recent studies indicated the two nociceptive receptors, cannabinoid receptor (CB) and transient receptor potential vanilloid type 1 (TRPV1) channel, are co-expressed in bone cells and play important role in the metabolism of bone cells, suggesting that dualtargeting these 2 receptors/channel may provide a novel approach for osteoporotic pain. In addition, both CB receptor and TRPV1 channel are found to be expressed in the glial cells which play vital role in mediating inflammation, chronic pain and metabolism of bone cells, suggesting a role of glial cells inosteoporotic pain.

SUMMARY:

Multiple-targeting against glial cells, CB receptors and TRPV1 channel may be one effective therapeutic strategy for osteoporotic pain in the future, following the elucidation of the complicated mechanism.”

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/31294469

https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1111/jphp.13135

The protective mechanism of cannabidiol in cardiac injury: A systematic review of non-clinical studies.

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“Cardiac disease is accounted as the leading cause of worldwide morbidity and mortality, mainly in association with induction of inflammation and oxidative stress. The disease is characterized by the overproduction of reactive oxygen and/or nitrogen species (ROS/RNS), and reduced antioxidant capacity.

Cannabidiol (CBD) is a non-psychoactive ingredient of marijuana that reported to be safe and well tolerated in patients. Due to its pleiotropic effect, CBD has been shown to exert cytoprotective effects. This study intended to clarify the mechanisms and the potential role of CBD regarding cardiac injuries treatment.

RESULTS:

Our findings obviously demonstrate that CBD has multi-functional protective assets to improve cardiac injuries; preliminary through scavenging of free radicals, and reduction of oxidative stress, apoptosis, and inflammation.

CONCLUSION:

CBD can protect against cardiac injuries, mainly through its anti-oxidant, anti-inflammatory, and anti-apoptotic effects on the basis of non-clinical studies.”

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/31291873

http://www.eurekaselect.com/173374/article

“Cytoprotection is a process by which chemical compounds provide protection to cells against harmful agents.” https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cytoprotection

Strong reasons make strong actions: medical cannabis and cancer—a call for collective action

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Logo of curroncol“Call it cannabis, not marijuana or weed.

It has been more than 17 years since the Canadian prohibitory regulations on the use of medical cannabis began to ease and more than 17 weeks (more than 6 months by the time of publication) since the Cannabis Act (Bill C-45) became law. Cannabis use for medical purposes has been part of the historical record and medical writings for millennia. However, it is only in the last 30 years that the workings of the human endocannabinoid system have been described and its receptors discovered. Amazing as all of those developments have been, the challenge of reintegrating cannabis into the science of modern medicine—and particularly care for patients with cancer—is a need whose time has come.

Surveys inform us that patients with cancer are using cannabis to manage symptoms related to cancer and cancer treatment. More concerning is that their use is for a medical need occurring outside the confines of modern cancer care, with patients accessing their cannabis from friends and family, and often from casual or unlicensed suppliers. Beliefs in the benefits of cannabis—for its yet unfounded therapeutic potential—are commonly held or supported by poor-quality evidence. Patients and their caregivers are inundated with media stories about a budding industry and its mergers and acquisitions while it grows to meet a need for what is regarded by some as overlooked and undertreated ailments. How should oncologists and the oncology team, trusted as the informed and compassionate advocates for their patients, reconcile the overwhelming public attention being given to this product—growing more, creating new routes of administration, and reaching for new uses—with the work needed to further the science of cannabis as it pertains to cancer care?

The onus is on us, the community of cancer care providers, to act.

Therapeutic and clinical developments in oncology are resulting in improvements in the survival of many patients. Costly immunologic therapies are promising and are being implemented for a variety of cancers. New science about the microbiome, about cancer detection, and about targeted therapies are being researched. And yet, contrasted against those celebrations of scientific ingenuity are the glaring gaps in the work pertaining to cannabis to settle unsubstantiated claims and anecdotal observations of this elixir for the ages. As clinicians and scientists, we must work to generate the needed evidence-based outcomes and to document or dispel the potential interactions and sequelae between cannabis and prescribed cancer treatments. “There are in fact two things, science and opinion, the former begets knowledge, the latter ignorance”.

The frameworks to lead this charge are ours to create. The current legal framework is focused on issues of access and control to regulate production, distribution, and sale. The medical framework for cannabis research is more tenuous, concentrated in silos of expertise as a result of the previous prohibitory environment. The study of cannabis is ripe for development, but even intra-institutional endeavors require help. The machinery of science requires some assembly and repurposing to address the new challenges.

If the current and future oncology landscape is a challenge for those working in cancer care, we must remember that patients deserve our compassion as they attempt to navigate this emotional journey with or without cannabis. More importantly, they need our support and deserve to see us take leadership in cannabis research. Oncologists who have expertise in both the clinical and scientific worlds must inform the necessary work. We must be the architects of its design, building bridges to industry and patients, while engaging our academic institutions.

“Coming together is a beginning, staying together is progress, and working together is success”.”

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6588059/

Overcoming the psychiatric side effects of the cannabinoid CB1 receptor antagonists: Current approaches for therapeutics development.

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“The cannabinoid receptor 1 (CBR1) is involved in a variety of physiological pathways and has long been considered a golden target for therapeutic manipulation. A large body of evidence in both animal and human studies suggests that CB1R antagonism is highly effective for the treatment of obesity, metabolic disorders and drug addiction. However, the first-in-class CB1R antagonist/inverse agonist, rimonabant, though demonstrating effectiveness for obesity treatment and smoking cessation, displays serious psychiatric side effects, including anxiety, depression and even suicidal ideation, resulting in its eventual withdrawal from the European market. Several strategies are currently being pursued to circumvent the mechanisms leading to these side effects by developing neutral antagonists, peripherally restricted ligands, and allosteric modulators. In this review, we describe the progress in the development of therapeutics targeting the cannabinoid receptor 1 in the last two decades.”

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/31284863

http://www.eurekaselect.com/173316/article

Diet, endocannabinoids, and health.

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Nutrition Research“Healthy aging includes freedom from disease, ability to engage in physical activity, and maintenance of cognitive skills for which diet is a major lifestyle factor. Aging, diet, and health are at the forefront of well-being for the growing population of older adults with the caveat of reducing and controlling pain. Obesity and diabetes risk increase in frequency in adults, and exercise is encouraged to control weight, reduce risk of type II diabetes, and maintain muscle mass and mobility.

One area of research that appears to integrate many aspects of healthy aging is focused on understanding the endocannabinoid system (ECS) because of its role in systemic energy metabolism, inflammation, pain, and brain biology. Physical activity is important for maintaining health throughout the life cycle. The benefits of exercise facilitate macronutrient use, promote organ health, and augment the maintenance of metabolic activity and physiological functions. One outcome of routine exercise is a generalized well-being, and perhaps, this is linked to the ECS.

The purpose of this review is to briefly present the current knowledge of key components of the ECS that contribute to appetite and influence systemic energy metabolism, and dietary factors that alter the responses of ligand binding and activation of cannabinoidreceptors and its role in the brain. Herein, the objectives are to (1) explain the role of the ECS in the body, (2) describe the relationship between dietary polyunsaturated fatty acids and macronutrient intake and systemic metabolism, and (3) present areas of promising research where exercise induces endocannabinoid production in the brain to benefit well-being. There are many gaps in the knowledge of how the ECS participates in controlling pain through exercise; however, emerging research will reveal key relationships to understand this system in the brain and body.”

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/31280882

https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S027153171930572X?via%3Dihub

HCV-Related Mortality Among HIV/HCV Co-infected Patients: The Importance of Behaviors in the HCV Cure Era (ANRS CO13 HEPAVIH Cohort).

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 “Mortality among individuals co-infected with HIV and hepatitis C virus (HCV) is relatively high. We evaluated the association between psychoactive substance use and both HCV and non-HCV mortality in HIV/HCV co-infected patients in France, using Fine and Gray’s competing-risk model adjusted for socio-demographic, clinical predictors and confounding factors, while accounting for competing causes of death. Over a 5-year median follow-up period, 77 deaths occurred among 1028 patients.

Regular/daily cannabis use, elevated coffee intake, and not currently smoking were independently associated with reduced HCV-mortality (adjusted sub-hazard ratio [95% CI] 0.28 [0.10-0.83], 0.38 [0.15-0.95], and 0.28 [0.10-0.79], respectively). Obesity and severe thinness were associated with increased HCV-mortality (2.44 [1.00-5.93] and 7.25 [2.22-23.6] versus normal weight, respectively). Regular binge drinking was associated with increased non-HCV-mortality (2.19 [1.10-4.37]). Further research is needed to understand the causal mechanisms involved.

People living with HIV/HCV co-infection should be referred for tobacco, alcohol and weight control interventions and potential benefits of cannabis-based therapies investigated.”

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/31286317

https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007%2Fs10461-019-02585-7

Isolation, Synthesis And Structure Determination Of Cannabidiol Derivatives And Their Cytotoxic Activities.

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Publication Cover

“In a continuing effort to explore the structural diversity and pharmacological activities of natural products based scaffolds, herein, we report the isolation, synthesis, and structure determination of cannabidiol and its derivatives along with their cytotoxic activities. Treatment of cannabidiol (1) with acid catalyst POCl3 afforded a new derivative 6 along with six known molecules 2 – 5, 7 and, 8. The structure of 6 was elucidated by extensive spectroscopic analyses and DFT calculations of the NMR and ECD data. All the compounds (2 – 8) were evaluated for their cytotoxic potential against a panel of eight cancer cell lines. Compounds 4, 5, 7, and 8showed pronounced in vitro cytotoxic activity with IC50 values ranging from 5.6 to 60 μM. Out of the active molecules, compounds 4, and 7 were found to be comparable to that of the parent molecule 1 on the inhibition of almost all the tested cancer cell lines.”

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/31282748

https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/14786419.2019.1638381?journalCode=gnpl20

Employment and Marijuana Use Among Washington State Adolescents Before and After Legalization of Retail Marijuana

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 Journal of Adolescent Health Home“The purpose of the study was to describe associations between employment and marijuana use among adolescents 2 years before passage of 2012 ballot initiative and 2 years after the implementation of retail recreational marijuana sales took place in Washington.

Working adolescents in all grades had higher prevalence of recent marijuana use compared with nonworking adolescents.

Working youth were more likely to use marijuana before and after Washington’s legalization of retail marijuana.”

https://www.jahonline.org/article/S1054-139X(19)30020-5/fulltext

“Study shows working teens more likely to try marijuana. Employed adolescents are more likely to use marijuana than those who don’t work, according to a study recently published in the Journal of Adolescent Health.”
“Teens with jobs are more likely to use cannabis than those who aren’t employed: study” https://www.thegrowthop.com/cannabis-news/teens-with-jobs-are-more-likely-to-use-cannabis-than-those-who-arent-employed-study

Association of Marijuana Laws With Teen Marijuana Use

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Image result for jama pediatrics

“In the United States, 33 states and the District of Columbia have passed medical marijuana laws (MMLs), while 10 states and the District of Columbia have legalized the recreational use of marijuana.

A 2018 meta-analysis concluded that the results from previous studies do not lend support to the hypothesis that MMLs increase marijuana use among youth, while the evidence on the effects of recreational marijuana laws (RMLs) is mixed.

Here, we report estimates of the association between the legalization of marijuana and its use, simultaneously considering both MMLs and RMLs.

Consistent with the results of previous researchers, there was no evidence that the legalization of medical marijuana encourages marijuana use among youth.

Moreover, the estimates reported in the Table showed that marijuana use among youth may actually decline after legalization for recreational purposes.

This latter result is consistent with findings by Dilley et al and with the argument that it is more difficult for teenagers to obtain marijuana as drug dealers are replaced by licensed dispensaries that require proof of age.”

https://jamanetwork.com/journals/jamapediatrics/fullarticle/2737637?guestAccessKey=5e4e41eb-ec96-4641-86f9-b5c89cc7cc48&utm_source=For_The_Media&utm_medium=referral&utm_campaign=ftm_links&utm_content=tfl&utm_term=070819

“New JAMA study shows legalizing pot might discourage teen use”  https://www.cnbc.com/2019/07/08/new-jama-study-shows-legalizing-pot-might-discourage-teen-use.html

“Recreational marijuana legalization tied to decline in teens using pot, study says”  https://www.cnn.com/2019/07/08/health/recreational-marijuana-laws-teens-study/index.html

“Recreational marijuana legalization tied to decline in teens using pot, study says”  https://wtvr.com/2019/07/08/recreational-marijuana-legalization-tied-to-decline-in-teens-using-pot-study-says/