SELECTED CANNABIS TERPENES SYNERGIZE WITH THC TO PRODUCE INCREASED CB1 RECEPTOR ACTIVATION
The cannabis plant exerts its pharmaceutical activity primarily by the binding of cannabinoids to two G protein-coupled cannabinoid receptors, CB1 and CB2. The role that cannabis terpenes play in this activation has been considered and debated repeatedly, based on only limited experimental results. In the current study we used a controlled in-vitro heterologous expression system to quantify the activation of CB1 receptors by sixteen cannabis terpenes individually, by tetrahydrocannabinol (THC) alone and by THC-terpenes mixtures. The results demonstrate that all terpenes, when tested individually, activate CB1 receptors, at about 10-50% of the activation by THC alone.