Used to classify article posts by terms used for medical conditions. It’s mostly aimed at practitioners and physicians.

Intracellular Molecular Targets and Signaling Pathways Involved in Antioxidative and Neuroprotective Effects of Cannabinoids in Neurodegenerative Conditions

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In the last few decades, endocannabinoids, plant-derived cannabinoids and synthetic can- nabinoids have received growing interest as treatment options in neurodegenerative conditions. In various experimental settings, they have displayed antioxidative, anti-inflammatory, antiapoptotic, immunomodulatory, and neuroprotective effects. However, due to numerous targets and down- stream effectors of their action, the cellular and molecular mechanisms underlying these effects are rather complex and still under discussion.

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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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Systematic literature review of human studies assessing the efficacy of cannabidiol for social anxiety

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The current review evaluates the potential of cannabidiol (CBD) as a promising pharmacotherapy for social anxiety disorder (SAD). Although a number of evidence-based treatments for SAD are available, less than a third of affected individuals experience symptom remission after one year of treatment. Therefore, improved treatment options are urgently needed, and CBD is one candidate medication that may have certain benefits over current pharmacotherapies, including the absence of sedating side effects, reduced abuse liability, and rapid course of action. The current review provides a brief overview of CBD’s mechanisms of action, neuroimaging in SAD, and evidence for CBD’s effects on the neural substrates of SAD, as well as systematically reviewing literature directly examining the efficacy of CBD for improving social anxiety among healthy volunteers and individuals with SAD

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Effects of rich cannabidiol oil on behavioral disturbances in patients with dementia: A placebo controlled randomized clinical trial

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Almost 90% of patients with dementia suffer from some type of neurobehavioral symptom, and there are no approved medications to address these symptoms. To evaluate the safety and efficacy of the medical cannabis oil “Avidekel” for the reduction of behavioral disturbances among patients with dementia.

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Cannabinoid Therapeutic Effects in Inflammatory Bowel Diseases: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis of Randomized Controlled Trials

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Inflammatory Bowel Disease (IBD) patients may benefit from cannabinoid administration supplementary therapy; currently no consensus on its effect has been reached. A systematic review of RCTs on cannabinoid supplementation therapy in IBD has been conducted; data sources were MEDLINE, Scopus, ClinicalTrials.

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Cannabidiol in the treatment and prevention of Alzheimer’s disease – a comprehensive

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Dementia is a major public health problem. Alzheimer’s disease (AD) accounts for 60% of dementia cases. However, AD is currently considered as an incurable disorder and the only few drugs available for its treatment are mostly symptomatic. In the quest for novel drugs for this devastating disease, cannabidiol (CBD) has been recently gaining attention due to its multiple properties, such as an ability to interact with various receptors, anti-inflammatory and antioxidative effects and many more. The aim of this review article was to summarize findings on the effect of CBD on AD with a focus on molecular mechanisms of CBD’s action and therapeutic effects which it exerts.

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Cannabidiol exerts anti-proliferative activity via a cannabinoid receptor 2-dependent mechanism in human colorectal cancer cells

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Colorectal cancer is the third leading cause of cancer incidence and mortality in the United States. Cannabidiol (CBD), the second most abundant phytocannabinoid in Cannabis sativa, has potential use in cancer treatment on the basis of many studies showing its anti-cancer activity in diverse types of cancer, including colon cancer. However, its mechanism of action is not yet fully understood. In the current study, we observed CBD to repress viability of different human colorectal cancer cells in a dose-dependent manner. CBD treatment led to G1-phase cell cycle arrest and an increased sub-G1 population (apoptotic cells); it also downregulated protein expression of cyclin D1, cyclin D3, cyclin-dependent kinase 2 (CDK2), CDK4, and CDK6. CBD further increased caspase 3/7 activity and cleaved poly(ADP-ribose) polymerase, and elevated expression of endoplasmic reticulum (ER) stress proteins including binding immunoglobulin protein (BiP), inositol-requiring enzyme 1α (IRE1α), phosphorylated eukaryotic initiation factor 2α (eIF2α), activating transcription factor 3 (ATF3), and ATF4.

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Use of Medicinal Cannabis for Palliative Care Patients: A Systematic Review

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Medical cannabis is a rapidly growing area of medicine. In this sense, due to the numerous benefits associated with its use, it has been increasingly proposed for patients in palliative care, in which the improvement of debilitating symptoms is directly associated with better quality of life. However, due to the complexity of treatments for these individuals, further studies are needed to determine the best possible prescription for them.

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Raising awareness: The implementation of medical cannabis and psychedelics used as an adjunct to standard therapy in the treatment of advanced metastatic breast cancer

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A 49-year-old woman was diagnosed with an ER + , PR-, HER2 + , BRCA- invasive ductal carcinoma which progressed metastatically to include bone, liver, and lymph node involvement. Standardised care included a 26-month treatment period with targeted chemotherapy and a ketogenic diet. The patient also began a course of cannabinoid-based therapy, consisting initially of a titrated high-dose protocol of mixed cannabidiol (CBD) and d9-tetrahydrocannabinol (THC) chemotypes, as well as psilocybin-assisted psychotherapy at macro and intermittent micro-doses. At the end of the five-month treatment period PET/CT investigations revealed no evidence of metastatic disease and chemotherapy was withdrawn.

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A Case Series of the Role of Cannabis Based Medicine in the Palliative Care Setting

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Complex refractory pain is highly prevalent in the palliative care setting. Opioid therapies play a pivotal role in pain management, but have an extensive side effect profile and frequently fail to provide sufficient relief, despite dose optimisation or concurrent use of standard adjuvant analgesics.(1) Therefore, identification of novel analgesics to alleviate pain would be very beneficial.(2)Currently, there is equipoise within the available clinical evidence of the efficacy and safety of cannabis-based medications in the management of pain.(3) This is a case series of three patients with complex pain, with inadequate pain relief with standard multimodal analgesia. Each of these patients were commenced on Sativex, an oromucosal spray composed of two cannabis extracts, delta-9- tetrahydrocannabinol and cannabidiol, and the dose was titrated until therapeutic benefit was
achieved. All three cases demonstrated a positive analgesic effect without any adverse symptoms.

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The Effectiveness and Safety of Medical Cannabis for Treating Cancer Related Symptoms in Oncology Patients

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The use of medical cannabis (MC) to treat cancer-related symptoms is rising. However, there is a lack of long-term trials to assess the benefits and safety of MC treatment in this population. In this work, we followed up prospectively and longitudinally on the effectiveness and safety of MC treatment. Oncology patients reported on multiple symptoms before and after MC treatment initiation at one-, three-, and 6-month follow-ups. Oncologists reported on the patients’ disease characteristics. Intention-to-treat models were used to assess changes in outcomes from baseline. MC treatment was initiated by 324 patients and 212, 158 and 126 reported at follow-ups. Most outcome measures improved significantly during MC treatment for most patients (p < 0.005). Specifically, at 6 months, total cancer symptoms burden declined from baseline by a median of 18%, from 122 (82–157) at baseline to 89 (45–138) at endpoint (−18.98; 95%CI= −26.95 to −11.00; p < 0.001). Reported adverse effects were common but mostly non-serious and remained stable during MC treatment. The results of this study suggest that MC treatment is generally safe for oncology patients and can potentially reduce the burden of associated symptoms with no serious MC-related adverse effects.

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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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