Cannabis, commonly known as marijuana, is a product of the cannabis sativa plant and the active compounds are collectively known as cannabinoids. Marijuana is used for all types of reasons ranging from pleasure to medicinal purposes. the discovery of cannabinoid receptors (CB1 , which is mainly expressed in the brain and CB2, which is mainly expressed in immune cells), has led to research identifying physiological functions of cannadinoids. This review looks at cannabinoids as a novel anti-inflammatory drug. cannabis has an apoptotic effect on immune cells. mice were exposed to THC and after different time points up to 72hrs lymphocytes were collected from the thymus and significant levels of THC-induced apoptosis were detected in Tcells, Bcells and macrophages were detected.
One possible mechanisms of immune control by cannabinoids during inflammation is the dys-regulation of cytokine production by immune cells and disruption of the well-regulated immune response.
Cannabinoids and MS: cannabinoids are useful in treating MS because they have neuroprotective as well as immunosuppressive properties. cannabinoids have inhibitory role on astrocytes, which secrete chemokines, cytokines, and NO.
Cannabinoids and Colitis: cannabinoids have been shown to regulate the tissue response to excessive inflammation in the colon, mediated by both dampening smooth-muscular irritation caused by inflammation and suppressing proinflammatory cytokines, thus controlling the cellular pathways leading to inflammatory responses.
Cannabinoids and liver injury: endocannabinoids and their receptors may play a critical role in regulating liver fibrogenesis; therefore, targeting the cannabinoid receptors may serve as a novel tool to prevent and treat liver injury. They also regulate liver cirrhosis by acting as mediators of vascular and cardiac functions. Endocannabinoids can trigger vasorelaxation, while an upregulated CB1-mediated cannabinoid tone causes enhanced mesenteric vasodialation leading to portal hypertension
Cannabinoids and RA: Using a non psychoactive component of cannabis, such as CBD, daily oral (5 mg/kg) or intra-peritoneal (25 mg/kg) administration of CBD inhibited disease progression.
Cannabinoids and cancers with inflammatory components: They showed that reatment with THC caused interruption of the MAPK/ERK kinase/ERK signaling module that was required for apoptotic lethality. They also reported that, in vitro, THC and other cannabinoids could induce apoptosis in transformed murine and human T cells.
seems to me as if there has been good progress in determining effects of cannabinoids as an anti-inflammatory factors, and quite frankly as more and more research is done, i wouldnt be opposed to the use of cannabinoids to treat/slow progression/eliminate symptoms of certain diseases
for more indepth mechanisms of how cannabinoids work in the various dieseases : http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2828614/
I think this post is very interesting. We all hear about marijuana being used for medicinal purposes. I however, have always been a little suspicious if it holds any true value in preventing or eliminating symptoms of disease. This is nice to read because it actually lets us know that there has been research done proving that canibinoids do indeed help with certain inflammatory diseases. I was wondering if all the marijuana given at dispensaries are psychoactive, or if there are different strands with less psychoactive properties given to treat certain diseases. It makes me wonder as more research is done if investigators can find the certain causes of the anti-inflammatory properties, and synthesize those components and put them in pill form. Wouldn't this ultimately make the smoking of marijuana obsolete for medicinal purposes.
ReplyDeleteImmediately after reading this I thought about the synthetic marijuana that is legal called "Spice". This drug is legal and gives similar psychoactive effects to marijuana. More interestingly and related to this class, it contains synthetic cannabinoids that act on the body similar to the real stuff. According to various lay sites, the specific drugs that Spice uses in replacement of the illegal components of marijuana are cannabicyclohexanol and other analgesic drugs. These are agonist for the cannabinoid receptor and act similarly to THC in marijuana. It seems this could be easily experimented with since the risks are no more than that of smoking genuine marijuana. In fact, there are less laws in the way of having this area tested.
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