Tag Archives: cannabis

A Dramatic Response to Inhaled Cannabis in a Woman with Central Thalamic Pain and Dystonia

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“Central pain syndromes (CPS) are difficult to treat… The clinical utility of cannabinoids has been suggested on the basis of anecdotal reports and small clinical studies for a wide range of pain syndromes, including cancer pain, visceral pain, migrain, and pain associated with spasticity. We report a patient with intractable CPS who experienced dramatic relief of pain and dystonia from cannabis… Our case report illustrates improvement in control of central pain and dystonia, and discontinuation of other treatments following cannabis use, suggesting a role for cannabinoids in the management of central pain syndromes with dystonia.”

http://www.jpsmjournal.com/article/S0885-3924(02)00426-8/fulltext

http://www.thctotalhealthcare.com/category/pain-2/

Neuroprotective effects of cannabidiol in endotoxin-induced uveitis: critical role of p38 MAPK activation.

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“Degenerative retinal diseases are characterized by inflammation and microglial activation.

The nonpsychoactive cannabinoid, cannabidiol (CBD), is an anti-inflammatory in models of diabetes and glaucoma.

We tested the hypothesis that retinal inflammation and microglia activation are initiated and sustained by oxidative stress and p38 mitogen-activated protein kinase (MAPK) activation, and that CBD reduces inflammation by blocking these processes…

Retinal inflammation and degeneration in uveitis are caused by oxidative stress.

CBD exerts anti-inflammatory and neuroprotective effects by a mechanism that involves blocking oxidative stress and activation of p38 MAPK and microglia.”

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/19052649

Cannabis Smoking and Diabetes Mellitus: Results from Meta-analysis with Eight Independent Replication Samples.

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“Epidemiologic data, suggest an inverse cannabis smoking-diabetes mellitus association.

RESULTS:

Recently active cannabis smoking and diabetes mellitus are inversely associated. The meta-analytic summary odds ratio is 0.7 (95% confidence interval = 0.6, 0.8).

CONCLUSIONS:

Current evidence is too weak for causal inference, but there now is a more stable evidence base for new lines of clinical translational research on a possibly protective (or spurious) cannabis smoking-diabetes mellitus association suggested in prior research.”

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/25978795

http://www.thctotalhealthcare.com/category/diabetes/

Dopaminergic function in cannabis users and its relationship to cannabis-induced psychotic symptoms.

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“Substance dependence and schizophrenia are both associated with dopaminergic dysfunction.

It has been proposed, although never directly tested, that the link between cannabis use and schizophrenia is mediated by altered dopaminergic function.

These findings indicate that chronic cannabis use is associated with reduced dopamine synthesis capacity and question the hypothesis that cannabis increases the risk of psychotic disorders by inducing the same dopaminergic alterations seen in schizophrenia.”

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/23820822

“There is robust evidence that stimulants increase striatal dopamine levels and some evidence that alcohol may have such an effect, but little evidence, if any, that cannabis and opiates increase dopamine levels. Moreover, there is good evidence that striatal dopamine receptor availability and dopamine release are diminished in individuals with stimulant or alcohol dependence but not in individuals with opiate, nicotine or cannabis dependence.”  http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/25873042

Hemp (Cannabis sativa L.).

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“Hemp (Cannabis sativa L.) suspension culture cells were transformed with Agrobacterium tumefaciens strain EHA101 carrying the binary plasmid pNOV3635. The plasmid contains a phosphomannose isomerase (PMI) selectable marker gene. Cells transformed with PMI are capable of metabolizing the selective agent mannose, whereas cells not expressing the gene are incapable of using the carbon source and will stop growing. Callus masses proliferating on selection medium were screened for PMI expression using a chlorophenol red assay. Genomic DNA was extracted from putatively transformed callus lines, and the presence of the PMI gene was confirmed using PCR and Southern hybridization. Using this method, an average transformation frequency of 31.23% ± 0.14 was obtained for all transformation experiments, with a range of 15.1-55.3%.”

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/25416268

Id-1 is a key transcriptional regulator of glioblastoma aggressiveness and a novel therapeutic target.

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Figure 2

“Glioblastoma (GBM) is the most common form of primary adult brain tumors…

It is, therefore, essential to discover master regulators that control GBM invasiveness and target them therapeutically.

We demonstrate here that the transcriptional regulator Id-1 plays a critical role in modulating the invasiveness of GBM cell lines and primary GBM cells.

Furthermore, we show that a non-toxic compound, cannabidiol, significantly down-regulates Id-1 gene expression and associated glioma cell invasiveness…

Our results suggest that Id-1 regulates multiple tumor-promoting pathways in GBM, and that drugs targeting Id-1 represent a novel and promising strategy for improving the therapy and outcome of GBM patients.

We previously showed a strong correlation between Id-1 expression and the invasive and metastatic behavior of breast cancer cells.”

“Cannabidiol as a novel inhibitor of Id-1 gene expression in aggressive breast cancer cells… CBD represents the first nontoxic exogenous agent that can significantly decrease Id-1 expression in metastatic breast cancer cells…  Moreover, reducing Id-1 expression with cannabinoids could also provide a therapeutic strategy for the treatment of additional aggressive cancers because Id-1 expression was found to be up-regulated during the progression of almost all types…”  http://mct.aacrjournals.org/content/6/11/2921.long

“In this report, we show that Id-1 is a key regulator of brain tumor cell invasiveness and neurosphere growth, and that Id-1 expression is specifically up-regulated in tissues from patients with high-grade gliomas. Importantly, we demonstrate that targeting Id-1 expression using either genetic approaches or the non-toxic cannabinoid, cannabidiol (CBD), leads to a significant reduction in the invasion of both GBM cell lines and patient-derived primary GBM cultures. CBD also significantly inhibits GBM dispersal ex vivo, and reduces tumor growth and Id-1 expression in vivo.

Consistent with the breast cancer study, we found that the non-psychoactive cannabinoid CBD significantly down-regulated Id-1 expression in serum-derived and primary GBM cells. As expected, we observed robust inhibition of glioma cell invasiveness.

In conclusion, our results establish Id-1 as a key regulator of both invasion and stemness in GBM cells and demonstrate that the non-toxic cannabinoid compound CBD down-regulates Id-1 expression and tumor aggressiveness in culture and in vivo.

The data also shed light on some of the key pathways that control GBM cell dispersal and progression. A greater understanding of these pathways may lead to more effective therapies for cancer patients including the additional refinement of cannabinoid analogs targeting Id-1.

We expect our efforts to ultimately translate to the development of future clinical trials with nontoxic compounds that target the expression of Id-1, a master regulator of GBM aggressiveness.

With its lack of systemic toxicity and psychoactivity, CBD is an ideal candidate agent in this regard and may prove useful in combination with front-line agents for the treatment of patients with aggressive and high-grade GBM tumors.”  http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3594064/

“McAllister Lab… Cannabidiol inhibits tumor (glioblastoma) progression in mouse models of brain cancer. Mice bearing human brain tumors derived from glioblastoma were treated with the naturally occurring cannabinoid, cannabidiol (CBD).”  http://www.cpmcri-currents.org/our-people/discovery-investigators/mcallister-lab

“New Study Finds Cannabis Compound Could Have Even Greater Reach in Inhibiting Aggressive Cancer than Previously Thought. Researchers at California Pacific Medical Center Research Institute (CPMCRI, a Sutter Health affiliate) have found that a compound in cannabis previously shown to decrease metastatic breast cancer now shows promise in stopping aggressive brain cancer as well. The findings are particularly important given the safety of the cannabis compound and the fact that patients with advanced brain cancer have few options for treatment.”  http://www.cpmc.org/about/press/news2012/cannabis-brain.html

http://www.thctotalhealthcare.com/category/brain-cancer/

Glioblastoma progression in mouse models of brain cancer, after treatment with CBD

A novel hemp seed meal protein hydrolysate reduces oxidative stress factors in spontaneously hypertensive rats.

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Logo of nutrients

“This report shows the antioxidant effects of a hemp seed meal protein hydrolysate (HMH) in spontaneously hypertensive rats (SHR)…

The results suggest that HMH contained antioxidant peptides that reduced the rate of lipid peroxidation in SHRs with enhanced antioxidant enzyme levels and total antioxidant capacity.”

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/25493943

“Cannabis sativa L., also commonly called industrial hemp seed, is historically an important source of food, fibre, dietary oil and medicine; the seed contains about 30% oil and 25% protein…

Proteins from both plant and animal sources, including those of hemp seed, have been isolated and recognized as essential sources of bioactive peptides capable of exerting various in vitro and in vivo activities, such as antioxidant, antihypertensive, antimicrobial, opioid, antithrombotic, hypocholesterolemic, appetite-reducing, mineral-binding, immunomodulatory and cytomodulatory…

HMH may serve as an important ingredient to formulate antioxidant diets with potential therapeutic effects.”

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4276990/

http://www.thctotalhealthcare.com/category/hypertension-high-blood-pressure/

The cannabinoid CB₂ receptor-selective phytocannabinoid beta-caryophyllene exerts analgesic effects in mouse models of inflammatory and neuropathic pain.

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European Neuropsychopharmacology Home

“The widespread plant volatile beta-caryophyllene (BCP) was recently identified as a natural selective agonist of the peripherally expressedcannabinoid receptor 2 (CB₂).

…the natural plant product BCP may be highly effective in the treatment of long lasting, debilitating pain states. Our results have important implications for the role of dietary factors in the development and modulation of chronic pain conditions.

Cannabis preparations, which have been used since thousands of years for the treatment of pain have recently come again into the focus as potential therapeutics for inflammatory and neuropathic pain conditions. Currently, cannabis extracts and synthetic preparations of the psychoactive cannabis compound Δ9-tetrahydrocannabinol (THC) have been approved in many countries for clinical pain management at doses and formulations that show on only minor central side effects…

A natural selective agonist for CB2 receptors is the plant volatile BCP, which represents a dietary phytocannabinoid. BCP is found in large amounts in the essential oils of many common spices and food plants… Several health effects have been attributed to BCP or medicinal plants containing BCP, including anti-inflammatory, local anesthetic, anti-carcinogenic, anti-fibrotic and anxiolytic-like activity.

In the present study, we investigated the analgesic effects of BCP in formalin-induced inflammation model and in a model of neuropathic pain, which involves the partial ligation of the sciatic nerve… BCP is the first natural CB2 receptor agonist, which could orally reduce inflammatory responses in different animal models of pain.

Thus, it is likely that BCP belongs to a group of common plant natural products with major potential impact on human health.

The oral intake of this dietary cannabinoid with vegetable food could be advantageous in the daily routine clinical practice over synthetic cannabinoid agonists.”

http://www.europeanneuropsychopharmacology.com/article/S0924-977X(13)00302-7/fulltext

http://www.thctotalhealthcare.com/category/neuropathic-pain/

The role of cannabinoids in adult neurogenesis.

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“Cannabinoids are a unique class of chemical compounds incorporating plant-derived cannabinoids (the active components of Cannabis sativa), the endogenous cannabinoids and synthetic cannabinoid ligands, and these compounds are becoming increasingly recognized for their roles in neural developmental processes.

Indeed, cannabinoids have clear modulatory roles in adult neurogenesis, likely through activation of both CB1 and CB2receptors.

In recent years a large body of literature has deciphered the signalling networks involved in cannabinoid-mediated regulation of neurogenesis. This timely review summarises the evidence that the cannabinoid system is intricately associated with neuronal differentiation and maturation of NPCs, and highlights intrinsic/extrinsic signalling mechanisms that are cannabinoid targets.

Overall these findings identify the central role of the cannabinoid system in adult neurogenesis in the hippocampus and the lateral ventricles, and hence provide insight into the processes underlying post-developmental neurogenesis in the mammalian brain.”

The relationship between cannabidiol and psychosis: A review.

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“Cannabis sativa is the most widely used illicit drug in the world…

THC is considered responsible for the main psychotropic effects of the drug, while CBD seems to antagonize these effects, particularly those that induce psychosis.

The effects of Cannabis seem to depend on several variables related to the type of plant, its strength, usage patterns, and intersubjective variations.

CBD could be used to treat several conditions, including psychosis, when the current treatment is associated with significant side effects.

…further research involving the possible antipsychotic effect and other potential positive effects of Cannabis are needed.”

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/25954940

http://www.thctotalhealthcare.com/category/schizophrenia/