Tamoxifen Isomers and Metabolites Exhibit Distinct Affinity and Activity at Cannabinoid Receptors: Potential Scaffold for Drug Development.

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“Tamoxifen (Tam) is a selective estrogen receptor (ER) modulator (SERM) that is an essential drug to treat ER-positive breast cancer. Aside from known actions at ERs, recent studies have suggested that some SERMs like Tam also exhibit novel activity at cannabinoidsubtype 1 and 2 receptors (CB1R and CB2Rs).

Collectively, these results suggest that the SERMs Tam, 4OHT and End elicit ER-independent actions via CBRs in an isomer-specific manner.

As such, this novel structural scaffold might be used to develop therapeutically useful drugs for treatment of a variety of diseases mediated via CBRs.”

 https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/27936172

Paradoxical increase in synthetic cannabinoid emergency-related presentations after a citywide ban: Lessons from Houston, Texas.

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“Synthetic cannabinoids (SCs) have become a major drug of abuse associated with severe hospital presentations. There have been a variety of legislative efforts to regulate these drugs: The authors focus on trends in SC-related hospitalizations at Ben Taub General Hospital before and after a ban enacted by the city of Houston.

Data from all consults seen by Ben Taub’s Licensed Chemical Dependency Counselor were examined for changes in SC-related presentations before and after the ban. The findings were compared alongside other reports of current SC use.

A significant increase was found in the prevalence of SC-related presentations at Ben Taub Hospital following Houston’s citywide ban. These findings are consistent with other state and national data.

Houston’s ordinance was expected to decrease harmful effects of SC in the community; however, the data suggest an increase in presentations since the legislation was passed.

While further study is needed, it initially appears that the threat of SCs is still considerable despite policy efforts. These results suggest the need for further monitoring of SC use and continued collaboration toward effective public health measures.”

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/27936903

AM251 Suppresses Epithelial-Mesenchymal Transition of Renal Tubular Epithelial Cells.

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“Epithelial-mesenchymal transition (EMT) of renal tubular epithelial cells is one of the causative mechanisms of kidney fibrosis.

In our study, we screened lipophilic compounds using a lipid library including approximately 200 lipids to identify those that suppressed EMT induced by a transforming growth factor (TGF)-β1 stimulus.

Our findings regarding the effects of AM251 on the TGF-β signaling pathway may inform development of a novel therapeutic agent suppressing EMT, thus preventing kidney fibrosis.”

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/27936102

From adolescent to elder rats: Motivation for palatable food and cannabinoids receptors.

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“To analyze motivation, food self-administration and decision-making was evaluated in adolescent, adult and aged rats.

Adolescent rats exhibited low expression of CB1R in the NAcc and low expression of both CB1R and CB2R in the PFC compared to adult and aged rats.

Adolescent rats display higher motivation for palatable food and an indiscriminate seeking behavior suggesting involvement of both homeostatic and hedonic systems in their decision-making processes.”

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/27935269

Marijuana Can Cure Epilepsy: Recent Studies Done By Scientists Of Birmingham Epilepsy Center Revealed

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“A series of trials on marijuana to treat epilepsy is conducted by the Birmingham Epilepsy Center revealed that Cannabidiol (CBD), purified from Cannabis plant or commonly known marijuana, has high beneficial effects in the treatment of epileptic patients. The study revealed that oral administration of CBD oil caused a significant reduction in the frequency of epileptic seizures in adult and pediatric patients.”

http://www.scienceworldreport.com/articles/53849/20161207/marijuana-cure-epilepsy-recent-studies-done-scientists-birmingham-center-revealed.htm

Cannabidiol Reduces Seizures in Various Epilepsy Disorders

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“A purified oral formulation of cannabidiol (CBD; Epidiolex, GW Pharmaceuticals) significantly reduces seizures in treatment-resistant epilepsy, according to new research that included double-blind randomized controlled trials of patients with Dravet syndrome (DS) and Lennox-Gastaut syndrome (LGS), two of the most difficult-to-manage seizure conditions.

The new research, released here at the American Epilepsy Society (AES) 2016 Annual Meeting, also highlights the relative safety of this new drug, a prescription medicine derived from the cannabis plant.”

http://www.medscape.com/viewarticle/872763

Risk of neonatal and childhood morbidity among preterm infants exposed to marijuana.

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“Limited data exist regarding the neonatal and neurodevelopmental outcomes of infants exposed to marijuana (MJ) in-utero, particularly among preterm infants.

Among infants born <35 weeks of gestation, MJ-exposure was not associated with adverse neonatal or childhood outcomes.”

 https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/27921445

Marijuana Compounds: A Nonconventional Approach to Parkinson’s Disease Therapy

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“Parkinson’s disease (PD), a neurodegenerative disorder, is the second most common neurological illness in United States. Neurologically, it is characterized by the selective degeneration of a unique population of cells, the nigrostriatal dopamine neurons.

The current treatment is symptomatic and mainly involves replacement of dopamine deficiency. This therapy improves only motor symptoms of Parkinson’s disease and is associated with a number of adverse effects including dyskinesia. Therefore, there is unmet need for more comprehensive approach in the management of PD.

Cannabis and related compounds have created significant research interest as a promising therapy in neurodegenerative and movement disorders. In this review we examine the potential benefits of medical marijuana and related compounds in the treatment of both motor and nonmotor symptoms as well as in slowing the progression of the disease. The potential for cannabis to enhance the quality of life of Parkinson’s patients is explored.

Marijuana has been shown to improve nonmotor symptoms of PD such as depression, pain, sleep, and anxiety. Moreover, components of cannabis have been demonstrated to have neuroprotective effect due to their anti-inflammatory, antioxidative, and antiexcitotoxic properties.

Due to combination of the above mentioned beneficial effects, cannabis may provide a viable alternative or addition to the current treatment of Parkinson’s disease.”  https://www.hindawi.com/journals/pd/2016/1279042/

“Marijuana: Could it slow Parkinson’s disease progression? Parkinson’s disease is the second most common neurological illness in the United States, causing tremors, slowness of movement, postural instability, and impaired balance and coordination. But findings from a new review suggest symptoms of the condition could be improved with marijuana.”  http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/314648.php

“Marijuana Compounds: A Nonconventional Approach to Parkinson’s Disease Therapy.” https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/28050308

Cannabidiol Modulates the Immunophenotype and Inhibits the Activation of the Inflammasome in Human Gingival Mesenchymal Stem Cells.

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“Human Gingival Mesenchymal Stem Cells (hGMSCs) are multipotential cells that can expand and differentiate in culture under specific and standardized conditions.

In the present study, we have investigated whether in vitro pre-treatment of hGMSCs with Cannabidiol(CBD) can influence their expression profile, improving the therapeutic potential of this cell culture.

In conclusion, the present study will provide a new simple and reproducible method for preconditioning hGMSCs with CBD, before transplantation, as an interesting strategy for improving the hGMSCs molecular phenotype, reducing the risk of immune or inflammatory reactions in the host, and in parallel, for increasing their survival and thus, their long-term therapeutic efficacy.”

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/27932991

Cannabidiol Regulation of Learned Fear: Implications for Treating Anxiety-Related Disorders.

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“Anxiety and trauma-related disorders are psychiatric diseases with a lifetime prevalence of up to 25%. Phobias and post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) are characterized by abnormal and persistent memories of fear-related contexts and cues. The effects of psychological treatments such as exposure therapy are often only temporary and medications can be ineffective and have adverse side effects.

Growing evidence from human and animal studies indicates that cannabidiol, the main non-psychotomimetic phytocannabinoid present in Cannabis sativa, alleviates anxiety in paradigms assessing innate fear.

More recently, the effects of cannabidiol on learned fear have been investigated in preclinical studies with translational relevance for phobias and PTSD.

Here we review the findings from these studies, with an emphasis on cannabidiol regulation of contextual fear.

The evidence indicates that cannabidiol reduces learned fear in different ways: (1) cannabidiol decreases fear expression acutely, (2) cannabidiol disrupts memory reconsolidation, leading to sustained fear attenuation upon memory retrieval, and (3) cannabidiol enhances extinction, the psychological process by which exposure therapy inhibits learned fear.

We also present novel data on cannabidiol regulation of learned fear related to explicit cues, which indicates that auditory fear expression is also reduced acutely by cannabidiol.

We conclude by outlining future directions for research to elucidate the neural circuit, psychological, cellular, and molecular mechanisms underlying the regulation of fear memory processing by cannabidiol.

This line of investigation may lead to the development of cannabidiol as a novel therapeutic approach for treating anxiety and trauma-related disorders such as phobias and PTSD in the future.”

 https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/27932983