Posts

The non-euphoric phytocannabinoid cannabidivarin counteracts intestinal inflammation in mice and cytokine expression in biopsies from UC pediatric patients

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Patients with ulcerative colitis (UC) using marijuana have been reported to experience symptomatic benefit. Cannabidivarin (CBDV) is a safe non-psychoactive phytocannabinoid able to activate and desensitize TRPA1, a member of the TRP channels superfamily, which plays a pivotal role in intestinal inflammation. Here, we have investigated the potential intestinal anti-inflammatory effect of CBDV in mice and in biopsies from pediatric patients with active UC

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Association of Mental Health Burden With Prenatal Cannabis Exposure From Childhood to Early Adolescence

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Dramatic increases in cannabis use during pregnancy are alarming because of evidence that prenatal exposure may be associated with a host of adverse outcomes.1 We previously found that prenatal cannabis exposure (PCE) following maternal knowledge of pregnancy is associated with increased psychopathology during middle childhood using baseline data from the Adolescent Brain Cognitive Development (ABCD) study.2 Here, leveraging longitudinal ABCD study data (data release 4.0), we examined whether associations with psychopathology persist into early adolescence.

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The chemical composition of ethanolic extracts from six genotypes of medical cannabis (Cannabis sativa L.) and their selective cytotoxic activity

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Cannabis (Cannabis sativa L.) for medical purposes has been legalized again in many countries in recent years. Currently, only two major cannabinoids (Δ9-THC and CBD) are considered in the legislation and medication, which is not sufficient in case of dried plant material or resulting extract. Other substances (mainly terpenes/terpenoids), or their specific combinations, could influence the resulting therapeutic effect for specific oncology diagnosis and specific patients. Six different genotypes (Conspiracy Kush, Jilly Bean, Jack Cleaner 2, Jack Skellington, Nordle and Nurse Jackie) were cultivated indoor at the Czech University of Life Sciences Prague. Ethanol extracts taken from the inflorescences were assayed for their content of main cannabinoids and terpenes/terpenoids. The extracts were used for in vitro cytotoxicity studies on hepatocarcinoma human cell lines Hep-G2 and colorectal carcinoma human cell lines Caco-2 and Ht-29.

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Cannabinoid extract in microdoses ameliorates mnemonic and nonmnemonic Alzheimer’s disease symptoms: a case report

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Cannabinoid-based therapy has been shown to be promising and is emerging as crucial for the treatment of cognitive deficits, mental illnesses, and many diseases considered incurable. There is a need to find an appropriate therapy for Alzheimer’s disease, and cannabinoid-based therapy appears to be a feasible possibility.

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Can cannabis kill? Characteristics of deaths following cannabis use in England (1998–2020)

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Cannabis is the most widely used illegal drug but is rarely considered a causal factor in death. This study aimed to understand trends in deaths in England where cannabinoids were detected at post-mortem, and to evaluate the clinical utility of post-mortem cannabinoid concentrations in coronial investigations.

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Medicinal Cannabis for the Treatment of Chronic Refractory Pain: An Investigation of the Adverse Event Profile and Health-Related Quality of Life Impact of an Oral Formulation

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Medicinal cannabis is prescribed in Australia for patients with chronic refractory pain conditions. However, measures of safety and effectiveness of different cannabinoids are lacking. We designed an observational study to capture effectiveness, adverse events (AEs), and health-related quality of life (HRQoL) measures in patients prescribed an oral medicinal cannabis formulation at Cannabis Access Clinics through the Cannabis Access Clinics Observational study (CACOS).

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An Examination of the Anti-Cancer Properties of Plant Cannabinoids in Preclinical Models of Mesothelioma

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Mesothelioma is an aggressive cancer with limited treatment options and a poor prognosis. Phytocannabinoids possess anti-tumour and palliative properties in multiple cancers, however their effects in mesothelioma are unknown. We investigated the anti-cancer effects and potential mechanisms of action for several phytocannabinoids in mesothelioma cell lines.

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Cannabis, Cannabinoids and Cannabis-Based Medicines in Cancer Care

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Cannabis sativa has long been known to affect numerous biological activities. Although plant extracts, purified cannabinoids, or synthetic cannabinoid analogs have shown therapeutic potential in pain, inflammation, seizure disorders, appetite stimulation, muscle spasticity, and treatment of nausea/vomiting, the underlying mechanisms of action remain ill-defined.

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Acidic Cannabinoids Suppress Proinflammatory Cytokine Release by Blocking Store-operated Calcium Entry

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Authors Malika Faouzi, Clay Wakano, Mahealani K Monteilh-Zoller, Ram P Neupane, John G Starkus, Jayanti Bhandari Neupane, Aaron J Cullen, Brandon E Johnson, Andrea Fleig, and Reinhold Penner Published July…

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A survey of medical cannabis use during perimenopause and postmenopause

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Expanding access to legal cannabis has dovetailed with increased interest in medical cannabis (MC) use; however, there is a paucity of research examining MC use to alleviate menopause-related symptoms. This survey study assessed patterns of MC use in perimenopausal and postmenopausal individuals.

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The Endocannabinoid System: A Potential Therapeutic Target for Coagulopathies

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The legal status of Cannabis is changing, fueling an increasing diversity of Cannabis-derived products. Because Cannabis contains dozens of chemical compounds with potential psychoactive or medicinal effects, understanding this phytochemical diversity is crucial. The legal Cannabis industry heavily markets products to consumers based on widely used labeling systems purported to predict the effects of different “strains.” We analyzed the cannabinoid and terpene content of commercial Cannabis samples across six US states, finding distinct chemical phenotypes (chemotypes) which are reliably present. By comparing the observed phytochemical diversity to the commercial labels commonly attached to Cannabis-derived product samples, we show that commercial labels do not consistently align with the observed chemical diversity.

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The phytochemical diversity of commercial Cannabis in the United States

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The legal status of Cannabis is changing, fueling an increasing diversity of Cannabis-derived products. Because Cannabis contains dozens of chemical compounds with potential psychoactive or medicinal effects, understanding this phytochemical diversity is crucial. The legal Cannabis industry heavily markets products to consumers based on widely used labeling systems purported to predict the effects of different “strains.” We analyzed the cannabinoid and terpene content of commercial Cannabis samples across six US states, finding distinct chemical phenotypes (chemotypes) which are reliably present. By comparing the observed phytochemical diversity to the commercial labels commonly attached to Cannabis-derived product samples, we show that commercial labels do not consistently align with the observed chemical diversity. However, certain labels do show a biased association with specific chemotypes. These results have implications for the classification of commercial Cannabis, design of animal and human research, and regulation of consumer marketing—areas which today are often divorced from the chemical reality of the Cannabis-derived material they wish to represent.

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