“In this epidemiological study, we aim to present estimates on suspected cannabis-attributable immunomodulation as manifest in serum C-reactive protein (CRP) levels as non-specific inflammatory markers with interpretable clinical values…
Extending pre-clinical research on cannabis-attributable immunomodulation, this study’s CRP evidence points toward possible anti-inflammatory effects of cannabis smoking…”
“The endocannabinoid (eCB) system plays an important role in the control of mood, and its dysregulation has been implicated in several psychiatric disorders.
Targeting the eCB system appears to represent an attractive and novel approach to the treatment of depression and other mood disorders.
…the review provides discussion on compounds and drugs that target this system and might prove to be successful for the treatment of mood-related psychiatric disorders.
The discovery of increasingly selective modulators of CB receptors should enable the identification of optimal therapeutic strategies.
It should also maximize the likelihood of developing safe and effective treatments for debilitating psychiatric disorders.”
“Cannabinoids (CBs) show promise as neuroprotectants with some agents already licensed in humans for other conditions. We systematically reviewed CBs in preclinical stroke to guide further experimental protocols…
Cannabinoids reduced infarct volume in transient and permanent ischemia and in all subclasses: endocannabinoids, CB1/CB2 ligands, CB2 ligands, cannabidiol, Δ9-tetrahydrocannabinol, and HU-211. Early and late neuroscores significantly improved with CB use…
Overall, CBs significantly reduced infarct volume and improve functional outcome in experimental stroke.”
“Antiepileptic drugs often produce serious adverse effects, and many patients do not respond to them properly.
Phytocannabinoids produce anticonvulsant effects in preclinical and preliminary human studies, and appear to produce fewer adverse effects than available antiepileptic drugs.
The present review summarizes studies on the anticonvulsant properties of phytocannabinoids.
Phytocannabinoids produce anticonvulsant effects through the endocannabinoid system, with few adverse effects.”
“Cannabinoids are a class of chemical compounds with a wide spectrum of pharmacological effects, mediated by two specific plasma membrane receptors (CB1 and CB2).
Recently, CB1 and CB2 expression levels have been detected in human tumors, including those of brain.
Cannabinoids-endocannabinoids exert anti-inflammatory, anti-proliferative, anti-invasive, anti-metastatic and pro-apoptotic effects in different cancer types, both in vitro and in vivo in animal models, after local or systemic administration.
We present the available experimental and clinical data, to date, regarding the antitumor action of cannabinoids on the tumorigenesis of gliomas.”
“Our study addressed the hypothesis that spinal release of endogenous opioids underlies Delta9-tetrahydrocannabinol (Delta9-THC)-induced antinociception in Freund’s adjuvant-induced arthritic and nonarthritic rats…
Our results indicate that morphine or Delta9-THC is equally potent and efficacious in both nonarthritic and arthritic rats.
Delta9-THC-induced antinociception…
We hypothesize that the elevated idyn A level in arthritic rats contributes to hyperalgesia by interaction with N-methyl-D-aspartate receptors, and that Delta9-THC induces antinociception by decreasing idyn A release.”
“Cannabinoid CB(2) receptors have been implicated in antinociception in animal models of both acute and chronic pain.
We evaluated the role both cannabinoid CB(1) and CB(2) receptors in mechanonociception in non-arthritic and arthritic rats.
The antinociceptive effect of Delta(9)-tetrahydrocannabinol (Delta(9)THC) was determined…
Our results indicate that the cannabinoid CB(2) receptor plays a critical role in cannabinoid-mediated antinociception, particularly in models of chronic inflammatory pain.”
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/17588560
“Pain associated with musculoskeletal disorders can be difficult to control and the incorporation of new approaches for its treatment is an interesting challenge.
Activation of cannabinoid (CB) receptors decreases nociceptive transmission in acute, inflammatory and neuropathic pain states…
Our results provide evidence that both, CB 1 and CB 2 receptors can contribute to muscular antinociception and, interestingly, suggest that the local administration of CB agonists could be a new and useful pharmacological strategy in the treatment of muscular pain, avoiding adverse effects induced by systemic administration.”
“Cannabinoid (CB) receptors have emerged as an attractive therapeutic target for pain management in recent years and the interest in the use of cannabinoids is gradually increasing, particularly in patients where conventional treatments fail…
This study suggests that THC could be a future pharmacological option in the treatment of muscle pain.
The local administration of THC could be an interesting option to treat this type of pain avoiding the central adverse effects.”
“Nowadays, Cannabis sativa is considered the most extensively used narcotic. Nevertheless, this fame obscures its traditional employ in native medicine of South Africa, South America, Turkey, Egypt and in many regions of Asia as a therapeutic drug.
In fact, the use of compounds containing Cannabis and their introduction in clinical practice is still controversial and strongly limited by unavoidable psychotropic effects. So, overcoming these adverse effects represents the main open question on the utilization of cannabinoids as new drugs for treatment of several pathologies.
To date, therapeutic use of cannabinoid extracts is prescribed in patients with glaucoma, in the control of chemotherapy-related vomiting and nausea, for appetite stimulation in patients with anorexia-cachexia syndrome by HIV, and for the treatment of multiple sclerosis symptoms.
Recently, researcher efforts are aimed to employ the therapeutic potentials of Cannabis sativa in the modulation of cannabinoid receptor activity within the central nervous system, particularly for the treatment of neurodegenerative diseases, as well as psychiatric and non-psychiatric disorders.
This review evaluates the most recent available data on cannabinoids utilization in experimental and clinical studies, and highlights their beneficial effects in the prevention of the main neurological diseases and for the clinical treatment of symptoms with them correlated.”