Milestone for cannabinoid MS study

http://www.physorg.com/news135859720.htmlThe CUPID

(Cannabinoid Use in Progressive Inflammatory brain Disease) study at
the Peninsula Medical School in Plymouth has reached an important
milestone with the news that the full cohort of 493 people with
multiple sclerosis (MS) has been recruited to the study.

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Why Cannabis Stems Inflammation
ScienceDaily (July 22, 2008) — Cannabis has long been accredited with
anti-inflammatory properties. ETH Zurich researchers, however, have
now discovered that it is not only the familiar psychoactive
substances that are responsible for this; a compound we take in every
day in vegetable nutriment also plays a significant role.
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People not only rate cannabis sativa L. highly because of its
intoxicating effects; it has also long been used as a medicinal plant.
Although the plant has been scrutinized for years, surprising new
aspects keep cropping up. For example, researchers from ETH Zurich and
Bonn University examined a component in the plant’s essential oil that
until then had largely been ignored and found it to have remarkable
phar- macological effects. The findings open up interesting
perspectives, especially for the prevention and treatment of
inflammations.

Completely different molecule structure

The hemp plant contains over 450 different substances, only three of
which are responsible for its intoxicating effect. They activate the
two receptors in the body CB1 and CB2. Whilst the CB1 receptor in the
central nervous system influences perception, the CB2 receptor in the
tissue plays a crucial role in inhibiting inflammation. If the
receptor is activated, the cell releases fewer pro-inflammatory signal
substances, or cytokines. The scientists have now discovered that the
substance beta-carophyllene, which composes between 12 and 35 percent
of the cannabis plant’s essential oil, activates the CB2 receptor
selectively.

Unlike the three psychoactive substances, however, beta-carophyllene
does not latch onto the CB1 receptor and consequently does not trigger
the intoxicating effect. “Due to the various effects of cannabis, we
had suspected for quite some time that other substances could come
into play besides the psychoactive ones”, explains Jürg Gertsch from
the Institute of Pharmaceutical Sciences at ETH Zurich. “However,
astonishingly we didn’t know what substances these were until now.”

Gertsch finds it remarkable that beta-carophyllene has a very
different molecule structure to that of the classical cannabinoids.
“This is presumably why no one realized that the substance can also
activate the CB2 receptor.” The scientists were not only able to prove
that beta-carophyllene binds with the CB2 receptor in vitro but also
in animal tests, where they treated mice that were suffering from an
inflammatory swelling on their paws with orally administered doses of
the substance. The swelling declined in up to 70 percent of the
animals, even for deep doses. For mice lacking the gene for the CB2
receptor, however, the substance did not make an impact.

Common substance

The results are encouraging for the prevention or treatment of
ailments in which the CB2 receptor plays a positive role. However,
Gertsch explains that we are still very much in the early stages on
that score. That said, the scientist can conceive that some day the
compound will not only help heal certain forms of inflammation, but
also be instrumental in treating chronic illnesses, such as liver
cirrhosis, Morbus Crohn, osteoarthritis and arteriosclerosis. In all
of these diseases, the CB2 receptor and the associated endocannabinoid
system play a crucial role.

The beauty is that beta-carophyllene is not only found in cannabis but
also often in plants as a whole and we consume the substance in our
diet. The non-toxic compound, which incidentally has been used as a
food additive for many years, can be found in spice plants like
oregano, basil, cinnamon and black pepper. “Whether we have found a
new link between the vegetable diet and the prevention of so-called
lifestyle diseases in our study remains to be seen in future studies”,
adds Gertsch.

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Journal reference:

Gertsch et al. Beta-caryophyllene is a dietary cannabinoid.
Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 2008; 105 (26): 9099
DOI: 10.1073/pnas.0803601105
Adapted from materials provided by ETH Zurich/Swiss Federal Institute
of Technology.
Need to cite this story in your essay, paper, or report? Use one of
the following formats:
APA

MLA ETH Zurich/Swiss Federal Institute of Technology (2008, July 22).
Why Cannabis Stems Inflammation. ScienceDaily. Retrieved July 21,
2008, from http://www.sciencedaily.com­ /releases/
2008/07/080720222549.htm

Who loves ya.
Tom

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