Including a special section on dopamine & substance use disorder...
Best of the Week...
This survey of women experiencing chronic pelvic pain & fibromyalgia found that CBD helped them to reduce pain medications & improvements in sleep, anxiety, depression, fatigue & overall health
Cannabidiol Use, Substitution for Medications, and Perceptions of Effectiveness in Women with Chronic Pelvic Pain
In humans with pain, a small amount of THC (2.5 to 10 mg) helps an opioid painkiller to work better
Within-subject, double-blinded, randomized, and placebo-controlled evaluation of the combined effects of the cannabinoid dronabinol and the opioid hydromorphone in a human laboratory pain model
In this case study, vaping a small amount of THC helped a patient with her headaches resulting from brain surgery
Significant reduction of symptomatic headache by medical marijuana – Case report
A case report of a 1:1 THC:CBD extract helping a young person with Tourette’s Syndrome
The Cannabis Extraction Product as an Adjuvant Treatment in Tourette’s Syndrome: A Case Report
The effects of cannabis for Tourette’s are very very varied. It certainly helps some people – but for others, there’s no effect at all. No one knows why.
In rats exposed to UV radiation, topical CBD helped to protect from the usual negative changes in the bloodstream resulting from the UV exposure
UV induced changes in proteome of rats plasma are reversed by dermally applied cannabidiol
It’s quite interesting that UV radiation causes damage to the skin cells, which then leaks that damage into the bloodstream. CBD’s ability to protect both the skin cells as well as penetrating into the blood to cause beneficial changes there speaks to the power of topical CBD.
This review looks at how aging causes our immune systems to wane & our baseline inflammation to increase – and what the cannabinoids like CBD can do to help
Inflammaging and Cannabinoids
In Greek Navy SEALS undergoing (mindbendingly) strenuous exercise, their levels of anandamide, PEA & oleamide all increased, suggesting an adaptive ability of the ECS in helping with stress & heart-rate
Endocannabinoids and heart rate variability alterations after exposure to prolonged intensive physical exercise of the Hellenic Navy SEALs
This review looks at all the beneficial findings on β-caryophyllene: the most common terpene found in cannabis (& our products)
Beta-Caryophyllene: A Review of Current Research
This terpene is unique because in addition to all of the other places that it binds, it’s also an activator of the CB2 receptor. This makes it what is known as a dietary cannabinoid.
Clinical Studies & Reviews of CBD & the Endocannabinoid System (ECS)
A case report of a lung cancer patient who used only CBD oil & saw her tumor reduce greatly over 2.5 years
Lung cancer patient who had declined conventional cancer treatment: could the self-administration of 'CBD oil' be contributing to the observed tumour regression?
Remember, just because there’s move evidence for the anticancer actions of CBD (& the other cannabinoids) than for almost any other topic, it’s still the most lightning rod thing that we can say out loud.
But tell your friends & family. And if needed, ask me for protocols or practitioners.
In humans administered CBD, CBD & THC all together, the CBC may be preferentially absorbed over the CBD
Pharmacokinetics of cannabichromene in a medical cannabis product also containing cannabidiol and Δ 9-tetrahydrocannabinol: a pilot study
Luckily, CBC is another excellent molecule to be absorbing.
This review looks at using cannabinoid for ameliorating the neurotoxicity of chemotherapy for cancer treatment
Cannabinoids: an Effective Treatment for Chemotherapy-Induced Peripheral Neurotoxicity?
Intriguingly, the authors suggest that the benefits of exercise & physical therapy for neurotoxicity of chemotherapy treatment might be mediated by the endocannabinoid system.
This review looks the efficacy of cannabis-based medicines against cachexia (a wasting disease of muscle & fat loss)
The Effect of Cannabis-Based Medicine in the Treatment of Cachexia: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis
A review of CBD & THC for mental health disorders
Cannabinoid Drugs in Mental Health Disorders
A review of the potential of using cannabis against inflammatory bowel disease
Cannabis and Its Potential Protective Role Against Inflammatory Bowel Disease: A Scoping Review
This review looks at the pain fighting ability of the terpenes from cannabis
Analgesic Potential of Terpenes Derived from Cannabis sativa
This review looks at the effects of CB2 activation in animal models for a range of diseases
Endocannabinoid System: behavioral modulation in murine models by Cannabinoids type 2 receptors
In guinea pigs with osteoarthritis, this study of tissue pharmacokinetics found that orally administered CBD did end up in the cartilage tissue at clinically relevant doses
Plasma and joint tissue pharmacokinetics of two doses of oral cannabidiol oil in guinea pigs (Cavia porcellus)
I include this animal study in this clinical section because it’s focused on pets – and these days, pets are people.
Preclinical Research & Cannabinoid Chemistry
In neurons of the hypothalamus related to feeding, endocannabinoids are required for the proper control of energy homeostasis
Endogenous cannabinoids are required for MC4R-mediated control of energy homeostasis
The relationship between energy homeostasis, feeding & the endocannabinoid system is huge (CV Research page here).
In mice addicted to nicotine, activation of the cannabinoid receptor GPR55 (which may one day be known as CB3) showed significant help in reducing nicotine addiction behavior
Cannabinoid receptor GPR55 activation blocks nicotine use disorder by regulation of AMPAR phosphorylation
In zebrafish not getting enough Vitamin D, their endocannabinoid tone may increase to compensate
Vitamin D deficiency promotes accumulation of bioactive lipids and increased endocannabinoid tone in zebrafish
We’re constantly hearing about the importance of Vitamin D for this pandemic, so it’s intriguing to see more about its relationship to the ECS.
In lung immune cells, the CB2 receptor is an important modulator of airway inflammation
Cannabinoid Receptor II engagement promotes ILC2 expansion and enhances ILC2-dependent airway hyperreactivity
For your chemistry nerds, the many ways to characterize CBD
Photochemistry of Cannabidiol (CBD) Revised. A Combined Preparative and Spectrometric Investigation
Makes you think of the story of the blind men & the elephant…
Dopamine & Substance Use Disorder
A review of the involvement of the CB2 receptor in treating substance use disorder
CB2 Receptor Involvement in the Treatment of Substance Use Disorders
In a model of neurons that release dopamine, the endocannabinoid 2-AG lowered the release of dopamine
Endocannabinoid 2-AG inhibits the release of dopamine from PC12 cells
The ability of the ECS to lower the overactivation of dopamine speaks to the many studies in this week’s newsletter suggesting it as a treatment for substance use disorders. See more on the CV Research page here.
In rats addicted to alcohol, CBD reduced their signs of addiction as well as their fighting
Acute cannabidiol treatment attenuates ethanol-induced place preference and reduces aggressivity in group-housed male rats
In rats addicted to methamphetamine, CBD helped to diminish the rewarding effects of the drug via the dopamine circuits
Cannabidiol impairs the rewarding effects of methamphetamine: Involvement of dopaminergic receptors in the nucleus accumbens
On the flip side, in this case study of a man with Parkinson’s disease (which is treated by drugs that raise dopamine levels), his secret ingestion of cannabis led to intense visual hallucinations & worsening tremors
Cannabis Dopaminergic Effects Induce Hallucinations in a Patient with Parkinson’s Disease