Tag Archives: Cannabinoids

[The endocannabinoid system].

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Abstract

“The endocannabinoid system is a physiological system, which is responsible for the control of glucose and lipid-metabolism, as well as for the regulation of the body weight. The endocannabinoid receptors are distributed both in the central and peripher nervous system. Different studies provide evidence that an hyperactive endocannabinoid system is involved in the development of different cardiovascular risk factors. The pharmacological blockade of these cannabinoid receptors may represent a new approach for cardiometabolic risk management.”

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/18548817

Update on the endocannabinoid system as an anticancer target.

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“INTRODUCTION:

Recent studies have shown that the endocannabinoid system (ECS) could offer an attractive antitumor target. Numerous findings suggest the involvement of this system (constituted mainly by cannabinoid receptors, endogenous compounds and the enzymes for their synthesis and degradation) in cancer cell growth in vitro and in vivo.

AREAS COVERED:

This review covers literature from the past decade which highlights the potential of targeting the ECS for cancer treatment. In particular, the levels of endocannabinoids and the expression of their receptors in several types of cancer are discussed, along with the signaling pathways involved in the endocannabinoid antitumor effects. Furthermore, the beneficial and adverse effects of old and novel compounds in clinical use are discussed.

EXPERT OPINION:

One direction that should be pursued in antitumor therapy is to select compounds with reduced psychoactivity. This is known to be connected to the CB1 receptor; thus, targeting the CB2 receptor is a popular objective. CB1 receptors could be maintained as a target to design new compounds, and mixed CB1-CB2 ligands could be effective if they are able to not cross the BBB. Furthermore, targeting the ECS with agents that activate cannabinoid receptors or inhibitors of endogenous degrading systems such as fatty acid amide hydrolase inhibitors may have relevant therapeutic impact on tumor growth. Additional studies into the downstream consequences of endocannabinoid treatment are required and may illuminate other potential therapeutic targets.”  http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/21244344

“Update on the endocannabinoid system as an anticancer target”  http://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1517/14728222.2011.553606?journalCode=iett20

Use of cannabinoid receptor agonists in cancer therapy as palliative and curative agents.

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“Cannabinoids (the active components of Cannabis sativa) and their derivatives have received renewed interest in recent years due to their diverse pharmacological activities. In particular, cannabinoids offer potential applications as anti-tumour drugs, based on the ability of some members of this class of compounds to limit cell proliferation and to induce tumour-selective cell death. Although synthetic cannabinoids may have pro-tumour effects in vivo due to their immunosuppressive properties, predominantly inhibitory effects on tumour growth and migration, angiogenesis, metastasis, and also inflammation have been described. Emerging evidence suggests that agonists of cannabinoid receptors expressed by tumour cells may offer a novel strategy to treat cancer. In this chapter we review the more recent results generating interest in the field of cannabinoids and cancer, and provide novel suggestions for the development, exploration and use of cannabinoid agonists for cancer therapy, not only as palliative but also as curative drugs.” https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/19285265

“Use of cannabinoid receptor agonists in cancer therapy as palliative and curative agents” http://www.bprcem.com/article/S1521-690X(09)00005-0/abstract

Cannabis-derived substances in cancer therapy–an emerging anti-inflammatory role for the cannabinoids.

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“Cannabinoids, the active components of the cannabis plant, have some clinical merit both as an anti-emetic and appetite stimulant in cachexic patients. Recently, interest in developing cannabinoids as therapies has increased following reports that they possess anti-tumour properties.

 Research into cannabinoids as anti-cancer agents is in its infancy, and has mainly focussed on the pro-apoptotic effects of this class of agent. Impressive anti-cancer activities have been reported; actions that are mediated in large part by disruptions to ubiquitous signalling pathways such as ERK and PI3-K. However, recent developments have highlighted a putative role for cannabinoids as anti-inflammatory agents. Chronic inflammation has been associated with neoplasia for sometime, and as a consequence, reducing inflammation as a way of impacting cancer presents a new role for these compounds.

 This article reviews the ever-changing relationship between cannabinoids and cancer, and updates our understanding of this class of agent. Furthermore, the relationship between chronic inflammation and cancer, and how cannabinoids can impact this relationship will be described.”

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/20925645

Established and potential therapeutic applications of cannabinoids in oncology.

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Abstract

“Cannabis occurs naturally in the dried flowering or fruiting tops of the Cannabis sativa plant. Cannabis is most often consumed by smoking marihuana. Cannabinoids are the active compounds extracted from cannabis. Recently, there has been renewed interest in cannabinoids for medicinal purposes. The two proven indications for the use of the synthetic cannabinoid (dronabinol) are chemotherapy-induced nausea and vomiting and AIDS-related anorexia. Other possible effects that may prove beneficial in the oncology population include analgesia, antitumor effect, mood elevation, muscle relaxation, and relief of insomnia. Two types of cannabinoid receptors, CB1 and CB2, have been detected. CB1 receptors are expressed mainly in the central and peripheral nervous system. CB2 receptors are found in certain nonneuronal tissues, particularly in the immune cells. Recent discovery of both the cannabinoid receptors and endocannabinoids has opened a new era in research on the pharmaceutical applications of cannabinoids. The use of cannabinoids should be continued in the areas indicated, and further studies are needed to evaluate other potential uses in clinical oncology.”

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/12618922

Cannabinoid receptor ligands as potential anticancer agents–high hopes for new therapies?

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“OBJECTIVES:

The endocannabinoid system is an endogenous lipid signalling network comprising arachidonic-acid-derived ligands, cannabinoid (CB) receptors, transporters and endocannabinoid degrading enzymes. The CB(1) receptor is predominantly expressed in neurons but is also co-expressed with the CB(2) receptor in peripheral tissues. In recent years, CB receptor ligands, including Delta(9)-tetrahydrocannabinol, have been proposed as potential anticancer agents.

KEY FINDINGS:

This review critically discusses the pharmacology of CB receptor activation as a novel therapeutic anticancer strategy in terms of ligand selectivity, tissue specificity and potency. Intriguingly, antitumour effects mediated by cannabinoids are not confined to inhibition of cancer cell proliferation; cannabinoids also reduce angiogenesis, cell migration and metastasis, inhibit carcinogenesis and attenuate inflammatory processes. In the last decade several new selective CB(1) and CB(2) receptor agents have been described, but most studies in the area of cancer research have used non-selective CB ligands. Moreover, many of these ligands exert prominent CB receptor-independent pharmacological effects, such as activation of the G-protein-coupled receptor GPR55, peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor gamma and the transient receptor potential vanilloid channels.

SUMMARY:

The role of the endocannabinoid system in tumourigenesis is still poorly understood and the molecular mechanisms of cannabinoid anticancer action need to be elucidated. The development of CB(2)-selective anticancer agents could be advantageous in light of the unwanted central effects exerted by CB(1) receptor ligands. Probably the most interesting question is whether cannabinoids could be useful in chemoprevention or in combination with established chemotherapeutic agents.”

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/19589225

Cannabinoids: potential anticancer agents.

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Abstract

“Cannabinoids – the active components of Cannabis sativa and their derivatives – exert palliative effects in cancer patients by preventing nausea, vomiting and pain and by stimulating appetite. In addition, these compounds have been shown to inhibit the growth of tumour cells in culture and animal models by modulating key cell-signalling pathways. Cannabinoids are usually well tolerated, and do not produce the generalized toxic effects of conventional chemotherapies. So, could cannabinoids be used to develop new anticancer therapies?”

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/14570037

 

Search: Study says marijuana fights cancer

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“Researchers in Madrid say the main psychoactive ingredient in marijuana (what is it?) and other “cannabinoids” (what are those?) could help slow cancer growth, as well as manage many cancer symptoms (like what?).  Scientists studied cancer cells (which type?) that grow faster than normal cells, and discovered that the cancer cells died whenever they were exposed to the pot ingredient.”

http://specials.msn.com/a-list/healthyliving/marijuana-fights-cancer-popular-pages

Marijuana compound could help fight breast cancer – ABC News

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“There may be a new weapon in the fight against aggressive forms of breast cancer in the future, and it comes from an unlikely source: Marijuana. Researchers at California Pacific Medical Center in San Francisco believe a compound in marijuana may help.

The research funded by the California Breast Cancer Research Program builds on more than a decade of studies involving the genes responsible for the spread of cancer. Now scientists have found at the cellular level, a compound in cannabis inhibits the gene that controls the spread of cancer.

“The problem is not the cancer itself, the problem is the spread of the cancer,” said cancer researcher Yvez Desprez, Ph.D.

Cancer researcher Pierre Desprez points to the gene ID-1 as the trigger.

“When this type of gene is expressed, the cells basically go crazy and they’re very aggressive and they metastasize everywhere in the body,” said Desprez.

“We could expect that if we create really effective inhibitors against it, we could potentially treat many types of aggressive cancers,” said cancer researcher Sean McAllister, Ph.D.

Their research in breast cancer cell lines focused on using a non-toxic compound in cannabis to target the ID-1 gene.

“What we found was cannabidiol is a particularly good inhibitor of this gene that’s responsible for the ability of cancer cells to become very aggressive,” said McAllister.”

http://abclocal.go.com/kgo/story?section=news/health&id=5771385

Scientists believe marijuana compound could fight cancer

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“Scientists in California believe they may have discovered a compound in marijuana that can reduce the aggressiveness of some forms of cancer.

The San Francisco Gate reports on the data that has been years in the making. While marijuana has been shown to help reduce nausea and pain in cancer patients, scientists believe that a compound in marijuana has the ability to “turn off” the activity of a gene responsible for metastasis in breast and other types of cancers.

The research team is working out of San Francisco’s California Pacific Medical Center Research Institute and have been working for years on the study. The compound they’re focused on, called cannabidiol, does not produce the psychotropic high associated with marijuana.

Last year, the team published a small study showing the positive effects of cannabidiol on mice. New data is about to be released that expands upon the previous results that the researchers hope will help propel the study even further.

“The preclinical trial data is very strong, and there’s no toxicity. There’s really a lot of research to move ahead with and to get people excited,” said Sean McAllister, who is working alongside scientist Pierre Desprez in the study.

Desprez and McAllister believe that their merging of separate areas of study was serendipitous.

Desprez had been studying the protein ID-1, which he found to play an important role in how cancer could spread. McAllister, on the other hand, was focused on studying anabolic steroids in drug abuse. He soon became focused on with the role non-psychotropic cannabidiol, or CBD, interacts with cancer.

McAllister, after hearing an internal seminar from Desprez on his studies of ID-1, came up with the question “How effective would cannabidiol be on targeting metastatic cancer cells?”

The two then teamed up, with Desprez armed with ID-1 cancer-causing protein, and McAllister with CBD, his cancer-fighting compound.

For their experimentation, the doctors exposed ID-1 to CBD in a petri dish. In a shocking result, the ID-1, the cancer-causing protein, reverted to a normal state and stopped acting “crazy.”

“We thought we did the experiment the wrong way,” McAllister said of the overwhelming results.

However, their results proved to be consisted.

“I told Sean, ‘Maybe your drug is working through my gene,’ ” Desprez said.

What the researchers have discovered thus far in their research is that CBD turns off the overexpression of ID-1, which prevents it from traveling to foreign tissues. Thus, the metastasization – cancer’s fatal ability – is blocked.

In the wake of their positive results, the doctors were forced to emphasize that the CBD will only work in the presence of high levels of ID-1 and these do not include all cancerous tumors but, rather, aggressive, metastatic cells. High levels have been found in leukemia, colorectal, pancreatic, lung, ovarian, brain and other cancers.”
Read more: http://www.irishcentral.com/news/Scientists-believe-marijuana-compound-could-fight-cancer-170689736.html#ixzz29rQbc2oS