Tag Archives: cannabis

Cannabis (Medical Marijuana) Treatment for Motor and Non-Motor Symptoms of Parkinson Disease: An Open-Label Observational Study.

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“The use of cannabis as a therapeutic agent for various medical conditions has been well documented…The aim of the present open-label observational study was to assess the clinical effect of cannabis on motor and non-motor symptoms of Parkinson disease (PD).

Analysis of specific motor symptoms revealed significant improvement after treatment…

There was also significant improvement of sleep and pain scores. No significant adverse effects of the drug were observed.

The study suggests that cannabis might have a place in the therapeutic armamentarium of PD.”

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/24614667

Relationship between working-memory network function and substance use: a 3-year longitudinal fMRI study in heavy cannabis users and controls.

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“The aim of this 3-year longitudinal neuro-imaging study was to investigate the relationship between substance use (e.g. alcohol, cannabis, nicotine, illegal psychotropic drugs) and working-memory network function over time in heavy cannabis users and controls.

Within the group of cannabis users, cannabis-related problems remained stable, whereas alcohol-related problems, nicotine dependence and illegal psychotropic substance use increased over time. At both measurements, behavioral performance and network functionality during the n-back task did not differ between heavy cannabis users and controls. Although n-back accuracy improved, working-memory network function remained stable over time.

Within the group of cannabis users, working-memory network functionality was not associated with substance use.

These results suggest that sustained moderate to heavy levels of cannabis, nicotine, alcohol and illegal psychotropic substance use do not change working-memory network functionality.

Moreover, baseline network functionality did not predict cannabis use and related problems three years later, warranting longitudinal studies in more chronic or dependent cannabis users.”

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/24589297

HIV/AIDS Cure May Be Found In Marijuana: Study

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“It is even more evidence of our need for the government to stop punishing patients for using this relatively safe and non-toxic treatment method … ”

Curtis Rood,36, a Cohen House resident with limited mobility, smokes marijuana with the assistance of another resident on Sunday, Nov. 30,1997 in San Francisco. Cohen House provides an assisted living environment for individuals with the AIDS virus. Most of the residents use marijuana for its medicine benefits in alleviating nausua, pain, and helping to stimulate the appetite. Curtis' parrot and self proclaimed best friend, Kona, rests on his shoulder while in the backyard of Cohen House. (AP photo/Julie Stupsker)

“For years, many Americans with HIV/AIDS have used medical marijuana to relieve some common symptoms associated with the illness such as nausea, vomiting and appetite loss.

Now, a new study published last week in the journal AIDS Researcher and Human Retroviruses found that a daily dosage of marijuana’s psychoactive ingredient tetrahydrocannabinol, or THC, may actually fight the HIV/AIDS virus itself.”

More: http://www.mintpressnews.com/hivaids-cure-may-be-found-in-marijuana-study/179398/

HIV Infections Cured With Cannabis a Real Possibility

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“Researchers are looking into the use of THC (tetrahydrocannabinol), the active ingredient in marijuana, to help stop the spread of HIV infection.

Hundreds of marijuana researchers have reported that THC was able to pierce the RIV virus in monkeys. That particular virus is almost identical to the HIV virus found in humans, so this news is very encouraging.

The greatest drawbacks to this excellent news are the current laws preventing testing on human candidates.

With the changing of these restrictive laws, HIV infections have a great chance of being cured, with cannabis as a real possible player in the race to stop the disease.”

More: http://guardianlv.com/2014/02/hiv-infections-cured-with-cannabis-a-real-possibility/

Weed Could Block H.I.V.’s Spread. No, Seriously.

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“But the U.S. government won’t let scientists try out this promising treatment on humans… proving that an illegal drug can stop a deadly disease in humans—without testing it on them—is impossible…

THC is one of 500 active ingredients in marijuana. And marijuana, despite many studies proving its medical value, is sill classified by the government as a Schedule 1 Substance.

In the face of mounting evidence that it is beneficial in treating diseases… it remains a controlled substance.

During HIV infection, one of the earliest effects is that the virus spreads rapidly throughout the body and kills a significant part of cells in the gut and intestine. This activity damages the gut in a way that allows the HIV to leak through the cell wall of the intestines and into the bloodstream.

When THC is introduced into this environment, it activates the CB2 receptors in the intestines to build new, healthy bacterial cells that block the virus from leaking through the cell walls. In other words, the body works hard to keep bad stuff in the intestines and the good stuff out.

Put another way: HIV kills the cells that protect the walls— THC brings them back. Reducing the amount of the virus in the lower intestines could then help keep uninfected people uninfected.”

More: http://www.thedailybeast.com/articles/2014/02/15/weed-can-block-h-i-v-s-spread-no-seriously.html

Chronic cannabidiol treatment improves social and object recognition in double transgenic APPswe/PS1∆E9 mice.

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“Patients suffering from Alzheimer’s disease (AD) exhibit a decline in cognitive abilities including an inability to recognise familiar faces…

The non-psychoactive phytocannabinoid cannabidiol (CBD) exerts neuroprotective, anti-oxidant and anti-inflammatory effects and promotes neurogenesis. CBD also reverses Aβ-induced spatial memory deficits in rodents.

This is the first study to investigate the effect of chronic CBD treatment on cognition in an AD transgenic mouse model.

Our findings suggest that CBD may have therapeutic potential for specific cognitive impairments associated with AD.”

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/24577515

Regulation of adenylate cyclase by cannabinoid drugs. Insights based on thermodynamic studies.

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“The abilities of lipophilic cannabinoid drugs to regulate adenylate cyclase activity in neuroblastoma cell membranes were analyzed by thermodynamic studies…

These data suggest that, for the entropy-driven hormone-stimulated adenylate cyclase enzyme, less disorder of the system occurs in the presence of regulators that inhibit the enzyme via Gi.

In summary, thermodynamic data suggest that cannabidiol can influence adenylate cyclase by increasing membrane fluidity, but that the inhibition of adenylate cyclase by delta 9-tetrahydrocannabinol is not related to membrane fluidization.”

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/2554920

“Regulation of adenylate cyclase in a cultured neuronal cell line by marijuana constituents, metabolites of delta-9-tetrahydrocannabinol, and synthetic analogs having psychoactivity.” http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/2830535

Flavonoid glycosides and cannabinoids from the pollen of Cannabis sativa L.

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“Chemical investigation of the pollen grain collected from male plants of Cannabis sativa L. resulted in the isolation for the first time of two flavonol glycosides from the methanol extract, and the identification of 16 cannabinoids in the hexane extract. The two glycosides were identified as kaempferol 3-O-sophoroside and quercetin 3-O-sophoroside by spectroscopic methods including high-field two-dimensional NMR experiments. The characterisation of each cannabinoid was performed by GC-FID and GC-MS analyses and by comparison with both available reference cannabinoids and reported data. The identified cannabinoids were delta9-tetrahydrocannabiorcol, cannabidivarin, cannabicitran, delta9-tetrahydrocannabivarin, cannabicyclol, cannabidiol, cannabichromene, delta9-tetrahydrocannabinol, cannabigerol, cannabinol, dihydrocannabinol, cannabielsoin, 6a, 7, 10a-trihydroxytetrahydrocannabinol, 9, 10-epoxycannabitriol, 10-O-ethylcannabitriol, and 7, 8-dehydro-10-O-ethylcannabitriol.”

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/15688956

Recent advances in Cannabis sativa research: biosynthetic studies and its potential in biotechnology.

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“Cannabinoids, consisting of alkylresorcinol and monoterpene groups, are the unique secondary metabolites that are found only in Cannabis sativa. Tetrahydrocannabinol (THC), cannabidiol (CBD) and cannabichromene (CBC) are well known cannabinoids and their pharmacological properties have been extensively studied. Recently, biosynthetic pathways of these cannabinoids have been successfully established. Several biosynthetic enzymes including geranylpyrophosphate:olivetolate geranyltransferase, tetrahydrocannabinolic acid (THCA) synthase, cannabidiolic acid (CBDA) synthase and cannabichromenic acid (CBCA) synthase have been purified from young rapidly expanding leaves of C. sativa. In addition, molecular cloning, characterization and localization of THCA synthase have been recently reported. THCA and cannabigerolic acid (CBGA), its substrate, were shown to be apoptosis-inducing agents that might play a role in plant defense. Transgenic tobacco hairy roots expressing THCA synthase can produce THCA upon feeding of CBGA. These results open the way for biotechnological production of cannabinoids in the future.”

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/17691992

Plant-derived cannabinoids modulate the activity of transient receptor potential channels of ankyrin type-1 and melastatin type-8.

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“… we have reported here for the first time the potent and efficacious modulatory effects by some phytocannabinoids on TRPA1- and TRPM8-mediated [Ca2+]ielevation…

Our findings suggest that phytocannabinoids and cannabis extracts exert some of their pharmacological actions also by interacting with TRPA1 and TRPM8 channels, with potential implications for the treatment of pain and cancer.”

http://jpet.aspetjournals.org/content/325/3/1007.long