“An expert panel organized by the American Academy of Neurology called oral cannabis extract the only complementary and alternative medicine unequivocally effective for helping patients with multiple sclerosis, specifically easing their pain and symptoms of spasticity, medicine possibly for as long as 1 year of treatment.”
“Researchers said medical marijuana seems to be the only “alternative therapy” showing promise for helping those with multiple sclerosis.
Officials at Oregon Health and Science University said research shows therapies like massage and acupuncture aren’t as effective as medical marijuana.”
“Controlled trial shows improved spasticity, reduced pain after smoking medical marijuana
A clinical study of 30 adult patients with multiple sclerosis (MS) at the University of California, San Diego School of Medicine has shown that smoked cannabis may be an effective treatment for spasticity – a common and disabling symptom of this neurological disease.”
“Both natural and synthetic cannabinoids have been shown to suppress the growth of tumor cells in culture and in animal models by affecting key signaling pathways including angiogenesis, a pivotal step in tumor growth, invasion, and metastasis.
In our search for cannabinoid-like anticancer agents devoid of psychoactive side effects, we synthesized and evaluated the anti-angiogenic effects of a novel series of hexahydrocannabinol analogs.
…two analogs LYR-7 [(9S)-3,6,6,9-tetramethyl-6a,7,8,9,10,10a-hexahydro-6H-benzo[c]chromen-1-ol] and LYR-8 [(1-((9S)-1-hydroxy-6,6,9-trimethyl-6a,7,8,9,10,10a-hexahydro-6H-benzo[c]chromen-2-yl)ethanone)]…
…these results suggest that novel synthetic hexahydrocannabinol analogs, LYR-7 and LYR-8, inhibit tumor growth by targeting VEGF-mediated angiogenesis signaling in endothelial cells and suppressing VEGF production and cancer cell growth.”
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/20950604
“The metabolic pathway leading to carboxylic acid derivatives of cannabinoids was discovered more than twenty years ago. While these compounds showed no cannabimimetic activity, subsequent work documented several biological responses both in vitro and in vivo for the THC acids.
These include inhibition of eicosanoid synthesis, antiedema effects, antagonism to PAF actions, inhibition of leucocyte adhesion and anti nociception.
In this report we present data further characterizing the analgesic properties of the title substance which is a potent synthetic member of this group. CT3 was effective in the mouse…”
“The cannabinoid receptor type 2 (CB2) is a class A GPCR that was cloned in 1993 while looking for an alternative receptor that could explain the pharmacological properties of Δ(9)-tetrahydrocannabinol.
CB2 was identified among cDNAs based on its similarity in amino acid sequence to the CB1receptor and helped provide an explanation for the established effects of cannabinoids on the immune system.
In addition to the immune system, CB2 has widespread tissue expression and has been found in brain, peripheral nervous system, and gastrointestinal tract.
Several “mixed” cannabinoid agonists are currently in clinical use primarily for controlling pain, and it is believed that selective CB2 agonism may afford a superior analgesic agent devoid of the centrally mediated CB1 effects.
Thus, selective CB2 receptor agonists represent high value putative therapeutics for treating pain and other disease states. In this Perspective, we seek to provide a concise update of progress in the field.”
“Management of acute pain remains a significant clinical problem. In preclinical studies, CB2 cannabinoid receptor-selective agonists inhibit nociception without producing central nervous system side effects.
The experiments reported here further test the hypothesis that CB2 receptor activation inhibits nociception…
The CB2 receptor-selective agonist produces antinociceptive… activation of CB2 receptors results in antinociception…
…confirm the potential therapeutic relevance of CB2 cannabinoid receptors for the treatment of acute pain.”
“The limited effectiveness of current therapies against Alzheimer’s disease (AD) highlights the need for intensifying research efforts devoted to developing new agents for preventing or retarding the disease process. During the last few years, targeting the endogenous cannabinoid system has emerged as a potential therapeutic approach to treat Alzheimer.
The endocannabinoid system is composed by a number of cannabinoid receptors, including the well-characterized CB1 and CB2 receptors… Several findings indicate that the activation of both CB1 and CB2 receptors by natural or synthetic agonists, at non-psychoactive doses, have beneficial effects in Alzheimer experimental models…
Moreover, endocannabinoid signaling has been demonstrated to modulate numerous concomitant pathological processes, including neuroinflammation, excitotoxicity, mitochondrial dysfunction, and oxidative stress.
The present paper summarizes the main experimental studies demonstrating the polyvalent properties of cannabinoid compounds for the treatment of AD, which together encourage progress toward a clinical trial.”
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/24634659
“Considering the numerous complex pathological mechanisms involved in the progression of AD, treatments targeting a single causal or modifying factor offer limited benefit. Cannabinoids, however, exhibit pleiotropic activity, targeting in parallel several processes that play key roles in AD…”
Full: http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3942876/
“Increasing evidence suggests a close relationship between the endocannabinoid system and schizophrenia.
The endocannabinoid system comprises of two G protein-coupled receptors (the cannabinoid receptors 1 and 2 [CB1 and CB2] for marijuana’s psychoactive principle Δ9-tetrahydrocannabinol), their endogenous small lipid ligands (namely anandamide [AEA] and 2-arachidonoylglycerol [2-AG], also known as endocannabinoids), and proteins for endocannabinoid biosynthesis and degradation.
…antipsychotic compounds which manipulate this system may provide a novel therapeutic target for the treatment of schizophrenia.
The present article reviews current available knowledge on herbal, synthetic and endogenous cannabinoids with respect to the modulation of schizophrenic symptomatology.
Furthermore, this review will be highlighting the therapeutic potential of cannabinoid-related compounds and presenting some promising patents targeting potential treatment options for schizophrenia.”
“Clinical and neurobiological findings suggest that the cannabinoids and the endocannabinoid system may be implicated in the pathophysiology and treatment of schizophrenia.
Our results reinforce the role of the endocannabinoid system in the sensorimotor gating impairment related to schizophrenia, and point to cannabinoid drugs as potential therapeutic strategies.”