Is Cannabidiol a Promising Substance for New Drug Development? A Review of its Potential Therapeutic Applications

The pharmacological importance of cannabidiol (CBD) has been in study for several years. CBD is the major nonpsychoactive constituent of plant Cannabis sativa and its administration is associated with reduced side effects. Currently, CBD is undergoing a lot of research which suggests that it has no addictive effects, good safety profile and has exhibited powerful therapeutic potential in several vital areas. More promising areas appear to include diabetes and cancer where CBD exhibits lesser side effects and more therapeutic benefits as compared to recent available medical therapies.

Treatment of Crohn’s disease with cannabis: an observational study

The marijuana plant cannabis is known to have therapeutic effects, including improvement of inflammatory processes. However, no report of patients using cannabis for Crohn’s disease (CD) was ever published.
This is the first report of cannabis use in Crohn’s disease in humans. The results indicate that cannabis may have a positive effect on disease activity, as reflected by reduction in disease activity index and in the need for other drugs and surgery.

Cannabidiol (CBD) and its analogs: a review of their effects on inflammation

First isolated from Cannabis in 1940 by Roger Adams, the structure of CBD was not completely elucidated until 1963. Subsequent studies resulted in the pronouncement that THC was the ‘active’ principle of Cannabis and research then focused primarily on it to the virtual exclusion of CBD. This was no doubt due to the belief that activity meant psychoactivity that was shown by THC and not by CBD. In retrospect this must be seen as unfortunate since a number of actions of CBD with potential therapeutic benefit were downplayed for many years.

Manipulation of the Endocannabinoid System in Colitis: A Comprehensive Review

Inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) is a lifelong disease of the gastrointestinal tract whose annual incidence and prevalence is on the rise. Current immunosuppressive therapies available for treatment of IBD offer limited benefits and lose effectiveness, exposing a significant need for the development of novel therapies. Although manipulation of the endocannabinoid system in murine colitis has proven to be largely beneficial in attenuating inflammation, there is a paucity of human study data. Further research is essential to clearly elucidate the specific mechanisms driving this anti-inflammatory effect for the development of therapeutics to target inflammatory disease such as IBD.

Patterns of medicinal cannabis use, strain analysis, and substitution effect among patients with migraine, headache, arthritis, and chronic pain in a medicinal cannabis cohort

Medicinal cannabis registries typically report pain as the most common reason for use. It would be clinically useful to identify patterns of cannabis treatment in migraine and headache, as compared to arthritis and chronic pain, and to analyze preferred cannabis strains, biochemical profiles, and prescription medication substitutions with cannabis.

Cannabinoids and pain

Recent advances have dramatically increased our understanding of cannabinoid pharmacology: the psychoactive constituents of Cannabis sativa have been isolated, synthetic cannabinoids described and an endocannabinoid system identified, together with its component receptors, ligands and their biochemistry. Strong laboratory evidence now underwrites anecdotal claims of cannabinoid analgesia in inflammatory and neuropathic pain.

Cannabinoids, inflammation, and fibrosis

Cannabinoids apparently act on inflammation through mechanisms different from those of agents such as non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs). As a class, the cannabinoids are generally free from the adverse effects associated with NSAIDs. Their clinical development thus provides a new approach to treatment of diseases characterised by acute and chronic inflammation and fibrosis. Thus, several cannabinoids may be considered candidates for development as anti-inflammatory and anti-fibrotic agents.