Tag Archives: Cannabinoids

Cannabinoids for treatment of spasticity and other symptoms related to multiple sclerosis (CAMS study): multicentre randomised placebo-controlled trial.

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“Multiple sclerosis is associated with muscle stiffness, spasms, pain, and tremor. Much anecdotal evidence suggests that cannabinoids could help these symptoms.

Our aim was to test the notion that cannabinoids have a beneficial effect on spasticity and other symptoms related to multiple sclerosis.

There was evidence of a treatment effect on patient-reported spasticity and pain, with improvement in spasticity…

INTERPRETATION:

Treatment with cannabinoids did not have a beneficial effect on spasticity when assessed with the Ashworth scale. However… objective improvement in mobility and patients’ opinion of an improvement in pain suggest cannabinoids might be clinically useful.”

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/14615106

Cannabinoids in multiple sclerosis (CAMS) study: safety and efficacy data for 12 months follow up

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“To test the effectiveness and long term safety of cannabinoids in multiple sclerosis (MS), in a follow up to the main Cannabinoids in Multiple Sclerosis (CAMS) study.

There was suggestive evidence for treatment effects of Δ9-THC on some aspects of disability.

There were no major safety concerns.

Overall, patients felt that these drugs were helpful in treating their disease.

These data provide limited evidence for a longer term treatment effect of cannabinoids.”

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC1739436/

The adverse effects of cannabinoids: implications for use of medical marijuana

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“Wang and colleagues present a systematic review of the research on adverse effects of medical cannabis use.

The authors found that most of the adverse events reported in the randomized clinical trials were not serious; dizziness was the most common.

These findings support the conclusions of the Institute of Medicine, that short-term use of cannabinoids for medical purposes has an acceptable safety profile.

This provides reassurance on the safety of prescribing cannabinoids and the newer cannabis extract for the short-term symptomatic relief…” 

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2413322/

Endocannabinoid regulation of amyloid-induced neuroinflammation.

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“The modulation of endocannabinoid (EC) levels and the activation of cannabinoid receptors are seen as promising therapeutic strategies in a variety of diseases, including Alzheimer’s disease (AD).

These data reinforce the notion of a role for the EC system in neuroinflammation and open new perspectives on the relevance of modulating EC levels in the inflammed brain.”

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/26362942

Tetrahydrocannabivarin (THCv) reduces Default Mode Network and increases Executive Control Network Resting State Functional Connectivity in Healthy Volunteers.

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“The cannabinoid CB1 Neutral Antagonist Tetrahydrocannabivarin (THCv) has been suggested as a possible treatment for obesity but without the depressogenic side-effects of inverse antagonists such as Rimonabant.

Our findings are the first to show that treatment with the CB1 neutral antagonist THCv decreases resting state functional connectivity in the Default Mode network and increases connectivity in the Cognitive Control network and Dorsal Visual Stream network.

This effect profile suggests possible therapeutic activity of THCv for obesity where functional connectivity has been found to be altered in these regions.”

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/26362774

Combination cannabinoid and opioid receptor antagonists improves metabolic outcomes in obese mice.

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“This study demonstrates that the combination of rimonabant, naloxone and norBNI is effective at producing weight loss over a sustained period of time without altering performance in standardised mouse behaviour tests. Fos expression patterns offer insight into the neuroanatomical substrates subserving these physiological and behavioural changes.

These results indicate that CB1-targeted drugs for weight loss may still be feasible.”

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/26360587

Assessment of Israeli Physicians’ Knowledge, Experience and Attitudes towards Medical Cannabis: A Pilot Study.

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“Cannabis has been used throughout history for different purposes but was outlawed in the United States in 1937; many countries followed suit. Although recently reintroduced as a medical treatment in several countries, the use of cannabis in Israel is permitted for some medical purposes but is still controversial, eliciting heated public and professional debate. The few published studies on physicians’ attitudes to medical cannabis found them to be generally unsupportive.

OBJECTIVES:

To examine, for the first time, the experience, knowledge and attitudes of Israeli physicians towards medical cannabis (MC)…

Physicians generally agreed that MC treatment could be helpful for chronic and for terminally ill patients. Oncologists and pain specialists did not agree unanimously that MC can undermine mental health, whereas other physicians did. Physicians who recommended MC in the past (once or more) agreed, more than physicians who did not, with the statement “MC treatment in Israel is accessible to patients who need it”.

CONCLUSIONS:

In contrast to other studies we found partial acceptance of MC as a therapeutic agent. Further in-depth studies are needed to address regulatory and educational needs.”

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/26357721

Cannabidiol and sodium nitroprusside: two novel neuromodulatory pharmacological interventions to treat and prevent psychosis.

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“Since most patients with schizophrenia do not respond properly to treatment, scientific effort has been driven to the development of new compounds acting on pharmacological targets beyond the dopaminergic system.

Therefore, the aim is to review basic and clinical research findings from studies evaluating the effects of cannabidiol (CBD), an inhibitor of the reuptake and metabolism of anandamide and several other effects on nervous system, and sodium nitroprusside, a nitric oxide donor, on the prevention and treatment of psychosis.

Animal and human research supports that CBD and sodium nitroprusside might be effective in the prevention and treatment of psychosis in general and especially in schizophrenia.

The evidence available to date shows that CBD and sodium nitroprusside act in pathways associated with psychotic symptoms and that they may be important agents in the management of prodromal psychotic states and psychosis.

This underscores the relevance of further research on the effects of these agents and others that mediate the activity of the cannabinoid system and of nitric oxide, as well as comparative studies of their antipsychotic effects and those of other antipsychotic drugs currently used to treat schizophrenia.”

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/26350340

Cannabinoid-based drugs targeting CB1 and TRPV1, the sympathetic nervous system, and arthritis.

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“Chronic inflammation in rheumatoid arthritis (RA) is accompanied by activation of the sympathetic nervous system, which can support the immune system to perpetuate inflammation. Several animal models of arthritis already demonstrated a profound influence of adrenergic signaling on the course of RA.

Peripheral norepinephrine release from sympathetic terminals is controlled by cannabinoid receptor type 1 (CB1), which is activated by two major endocannabinoids (ECs), arachidonylethanolamine (anandamide) and 2-arachidonylglycerol.

These ECs also modulate function of transient receptor potential channels (TRPs) located on sensory nerve fibers, which are abundant in arthritic synovial tissue. TRPs not only induce the sensation of pain but also support inflammation via secretion of pro-inflammatory neuropeptides.

In addition, many cell types in synovial tissue express CB1 and TRPs.

In this review, we focus on CB1 and transient receptor potential vanilloid 1 (TRPV1)-mediated effects on RA since most anti-inflammatory mechanisms induced by cannabinoids are attributed to cannabinoid receptor type 2 (CB2) activation.

We demonstrate how CB1 agonism or antagonism can modulate arthritic disease.

The concept of functional antagonism with continuous CB1 activation is discussed.

Since fatty acid amide hydrolase (FAAH) is a major EC-degrading enzyme, the therapeutic possibility of FAAH inhibition is studied.

Finally, the therapeutic potential of ECs is examined since they interact with cannabinoid receptors and TRPs but do not produce central side effects.”

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/26343051