Phytocannabinoid Pharmacology: Medicinal Properties of Cannabis sativa Constituents Aside from the "Big Two"

Cannabinoid Analgesia in Postoperative Pain Management: From Molecular Mechanisms to Clinical Reality

Postoperative pain (POP) is a challenging clinical phenomenon that affects the majority of surgical patients and demands effective management to mitigate adverse outcomes such as persistent pain. The primary goal of POP management is to alleviate suffering and facilitate a seamless return to normal function for the patient. Despite compelling evidence of its drawbacks, opioid analgesia remains the basis of POP treatment. Novel therapeutic approaches rely on multimodal analgesia, integrating different pharmacological strategies to optimize efficacy while minimizing adverse effects. The recognition of the imperative role of the endocannabinoid system in pain regulation has prompted the investigation of cannabinoid compounds as a new therapeutic avenue. Cannabinoids may serve as adjuvants, enhancing the analgesic effects of other drugs and potentially replacing or at least reducing the dependence on other long-term analgesics in pain management. This narrative review succinctly summarizes pertinent information on the molecular mechanisms, clinical therapeutic benefits, and considerations associated with the plausible use of various cannabinoid compounds in treating POP. According to the available evidence, cannabinoid compounds modulate specific molecular mechanisms intimately involved in POP. However, only two of the eleven clinical trials that evaluated the efficacy of different cannabinoid interventions showed positive results.

Discovery of Latent Cannabichromene Cyclase Activity in Marine Bacterial Flavoenzymes

Production of phytocannabinoids remains an area of active scientific interest due to the growing use of cannabis by the public and the underexplored therapeutic potential of the over 100 minor cannabinoids. While phytocannabinoids are biosynthesized by Cannabis sativa and other select plants and fungi, structural analogs and stereoisomers can only be accessed synthetically or through heterologous expression. To date, the bioproduction of cannabinoids has required eukaryotic hosts like yeast since key, native oxidative cyclization enzymes do not express well in bacterial hosts. Here, we report that two marine bacterial flavoenzymes, Clz9 and Tcz9, perform oxidative cyclization reactions on phytocannabinoid precursors to efficiently generate cannabichromene scaffolds. Furthermore, Clz9 and Tcz9 express robustly in bacteria and display significant tolerance to organic solvent and high substrate loading, thereby enabling fermentative production of cannabichromenic acid in Escherichia coli and indicating their potential for biocatalyst development.

Uncovering the metabolite complexity and variability of cultivated hemp (Cannabis sativa L.): A first phytochemical diversity mapping in Greece

The high value of fiber-type Cannabis sativa L. (hemp) due to its phytochemicals has yet to be fully recognized and leveraged. Besides cannabidiol (CBD), which is the most prevalent non-psychoactive cannabinoid, hemp contains numerous other cannabinoids with unexplored bioactivities, in addition to various compound classes. Previous works have aimed to correlate chemical profiles of C. sativa inflorescences with important parameters, mostly based on experiments under controlled conditions. However, mapping studies that explore the phytochemical diversity of hemp in a more realistic context are crucial to guide decisions at multiple levels, especially in areas where hemp cultivation was recently re-authorized, including Mediterranean countries. In this work, a powerful strategy was followed to map the phytochemical diversity of cultivated hemp in Greece, being the first study of its kind for this environment. A panel of 98 inflorescence samples, covering two harvesting years, eleven geographical regions and seven commonly used EU varieties, were studied using a combination of targeted and untargeted approaches. Quantitative results based on UPLC-PDA revealed relatively constant CBD/THC (total) ratios, while profiling by LC-HRMS effectively probed the phytochemical variability of samples, and led to the annotation of 88 metabolites, including a multitude of minor cannabinoids. Multivariate analysis substantiated a strong effect of harvesting year in sample discrimination and related biomarkers were revealed, belonging to fatty acids and flavonoids. The effect of geographical region and, especially, variety on chemical variation patterns was more intricate to interpret. The results of this work are envisioned to enhance our understanding of the real-world phytochemical complexity of C. sativa (hemp), with a view to maximized utilization of hemp for the promotion of human well-being.

Chemistry and pharmacological aspects of furanoid cannabinoids and related compounds: Is furanoid cannabinoids open a new dimension towards the non-psychoactive cannabinoids?

Cannabinoids have emerged as compelling candidates for medicinal applications, notably following the recent approval of non-psychoactive cannabidiol (CBD) as a medicine. This endorsement has stimulated a growing interest in this class of compounds for drug discovery. Within the cannabis plant, a rich reservoir of over 125 compounds exists. Tetrahydrocannabinol (THC), a member of the dibenzopyran class, is widely recognized for its psychoactive effects. Conversely, the furanoid class, represented by cannabielsoin-type (CBE) and cannabifuran-type (CBF) compounds, has not been reported with psychoactivity and demonstrates a spectrum of pharmacological potential. The transition from the pyran structure of THC to the furan structure of CBE seems to mark a shift from psychoactive to non-psychoactive properties, but a comprehensive examination of other members in this class is essential for a complete understanding. Building on these observations, our thorough review delves into the subject, offering a comprehensive exploration of furanoid cannabinoids, covering aspects such as their biosynthesis, classification, synthesis, and medicinal potential. The aim of this review is to encourage and catalyze increased research focus in this promising area of cannabinoid exploration.

Synthesis and Evaluation of Natural and Unnatural Tetrahydrocannabiorcol for Its Potential Use in Neuropathologies

(-)-trans-Δ9-Tetrahydrocannabinol (trans-(-)-Δ9-THC) has shown neuroprotective potential, but its medicinal benefits are not fully exploited due to the limitations of psychoactive properties. The lower homologues are non-psychoactive in nature but lack comprehensive scientific validation regarding neuroprotective potential. The present study describes the synthesis of non-psychoactive lower homologues of THC-type compounds and their neuroprotective potential. Both natural tetrahydro-cannabiorcol (trans-(-)-Δ9-THCO) and unnatural Δ9-tetrahydrocannabiorcol (trans-(+)-Δ9-THCO) were successfully synthesized starting from R-limonene and S-limonene, respectively, and investigated for neuroprotective potential in cellular models. The structures of both enantiomers were confirmed by NMR, HMBC, HQSC, NOESY, and COSY experiments. Results indicated that both enantiomers were nontoxic to the cells treated up to 50 μM. Neuroprotective properties of the enantiomers showed that treatments could significantly reverse the corticosterone-induced toxicity in SH-SY5Y cells and simultaneously cause elevated expression of brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF). It was also observed that unnatural trans-(+)-Δ9-THCO displayed better activity than the natural enantiomer and can be further explored for its potential use in neuropathological ailments.

UK Medical Cannabis Registry: Assessment of clinical outcomes in patients with insomnia

INTRODUCTION

The primary aim of this study was to assess changes in sleep-specific health-related quality of life (HRQoL) for those prescribed cannabis-based medicinal products (CBMPs) for insomnia.

METHODS

A case series of UK patients with insomnia was analyzed. Primary outcomes were changes in the Single-Item Sleep-Quality Scale (SQS), Generalized Anxiety Disorder-7 (GAD-7), and EQ-5D-5L at up to 6 months from baseline. Statistical significance was identified as a p value < .050.

RESULTS

61 patients were included in the analysis. There was an improvement in the SQS from baseline at 1, 3, and 6 months (p < .001). There were also improvements in the EQ-5D-5L Index value and GAD-7 at 1, 3, and 6 months (p < .050). There were 28 (45.9%) adverse events recorded by 8 patients (13.1%). There were no life-threatening/disabling adverse events.

CONCLUSION

Patients with insomnia experienced an improvement in sleep quality following the initiation of CBMPs in this medium-term analysis. Fewer than 15% of participants reported one or more adverse events. However, due to the limitations of the study design, further investigation is required before definitive conclusions can be drawn on the efficacy of CBMPs in treating insomnia.

A GraphSAGE-based model with fingerprints only to predict drug-drug interactions

Drugs are an effective way to treat various diseases. Some diseases are so complicated that the effect of a single drug for such diseases is limited, which has led to the emergence of combination drug therapy. The use multiple drugs to treat these diseases can improve the drug efficacy, but it can also bring adverse effects. Thus, it is essential to determine drug-drug interactions (DDIs). Recently, deep learning algorithms have become popular to design DDI prediction models. However, most deep learning-based models need several types of drug properties, inducing the application problems for drugs without these properties. In this study, a new deep learning-based model was designed to predict DDIs. For wide applications, drugs were first represented by commonly used properties, referred to as fingerprint features. Then, these features were perfectly fused with the drug interaction network by a type of graph convolutional network method, GraphSAGE, yielding high-level drug features. The inner product was adopted to score the strength of drug pairs. The model was evaluated by 10-fold cross-validation, resulting in an AUROC of 0.9704 and AUPR of 0.9727. Such performance was better than the previous model which directly used drug fingerprint features and was competitive compared with some other previous models that used more drug properties. Furthermore, the ablation tests indicated the importance of the main parts of the model, and we analyzed the strengths and limitations of a model for drugs with different degrees in the network. This model identified some novel DDIs that may bring expected benefits, such as the combination of PEA and cannabinol that may produce better effects. DDIs that may cause unexpected side effects have also been discovered, such as the combined use of WIN 55,212-2 and cannabinol. These DDIs can provide novel insights for treating complex diseases or avoiding adverse drug events.

Inhibitory effects of selected cannabinoids against dipeptidyl peptidase IV, an enzyme linked to type 2 diabetes

Ethnopharmacological relevance

In recent times the decriminalisation of cannabis globally has increased its use as an alternative medication. Where it has been used in modern medicinal practises since the 1800s, there is limited scientific investigation to understand the biological activities of this plant.

Aim of the study

Dipeptidyl peptidase IV (DPP-IV) plays a key role in regulating glucose homeostasis, and inhibition of this enzyme has been used as a therapeutic approach to treat type 2 diabetes. However, some of the synthetic inhibitors for this enzyme available on the market may cause undesirable side effects. Therefore, it is important to identify new inhibitors of DPP-IV and to understand their interaction with this enzyme.

Methods

In this study, four cannabinoids (cannabidiol, cannabigerol, cannabinol and Δ9-tetrahydrocannabinol) were evaluated for their inhibitory effects against recombinant human DPP-IV and their potential inhibition mechanism was explored using both in vitro and in silico approaches.

Results

All four cannabinoids resulted in a dose-dependent response with IC50 values of between 4.0 and 6.9 μg/mL. Kinetic analysis revealed a mixed mode of inhibition. CD spectra indicated that binding of cannabinoids results in structural and conformational changes in the secondary structure of the enzyme. These findings were supported by molecular docking studies which revealed best docking scores at both active and allosteric sites for all tested inhibitors. Furthermore, molecular dynamics simulations showed that cannabinoids formed a stable complex with DPP-IV protein via hydrogen bonds at an allosteric site, suggesting that cannabinoids act by either inducing conformational changes or blocking the active site of the enzyme.

Conclusion

These results demonstrated that cannabinoids may modulate DPP-IV activity and thereby potentially assist in improving glycaemic regulation in type 2 diabetes.

Extraction solvent selection for Cannabis sativa L. by efficient exploration of cannabinoid selectivity and phytochemical diversity

INTRODUCTION

Cannabis sativa L. is attracting worldwide attention due to various health-promoting effects. Extraction solvent type is critical for the recovery of bioactive compounds from the plant, especially cannabinoids. However, the choice of solvent is varied and not adequately warranted elsewhere, causing confusion in involved fields.

OBJECTIVE

The present work aimed to investigate the effect of extraction solvent on C. sativa (hemp) with regard to cannabinoid recovery and phytochemical profile of the extracts, considering most of the related solvents.

METHODOLOGY

The majority of solvents reported for C. sativa (n = 14) were compared using a representative hemp pool. Quantitative results for major and minor cannabinoids were rapidly and reliably obtained using ultrahigh-performance liquid chromatography coupled with photodiode array detection (UPLC-PDA). In parallel, high-performance thin-layer chromatographic (HPTLC) fingerprinting was employed, involving less toxic mobile phase than in relevant reports. Various derivatisation schemes were applied for more comprehensive comparison of extracts.

RESULTS

Differential selectivity towards cannabinoids was observed among solvents. MeOH was found particularly efficient for most cannabinoids, in addition to solvent systems such as n-Hex/EtOH 70:30 and ACN/EtOH 80:20, while EtOH was generally inferior. For tetrahydrocannabinol (THC)-type compounds, EtOAc and n-Hex/EtOAc 60:40 outperformed n-Hex, despite its use in the official EU method. Solvents that tend to extract more lipids or more polar compounds were revealed based on HPTLC results.

CONCLUSION

Combining the observations from UPLC quantitation and HPTLC fingerprinting, this work allowed comprehensive evaluation of extraction solvents, in view of robust quality assessment and maximised utilisation of C. sativa.

Cannabidiol - Help and hype in targeting mucosal diseases

Cannabidiol (CBD) is one of the most commonly utilised phytocannabinoids due to its non-psychoactive and multiple potential therapeutic properties and its non-selective pharmacology. Recent studies have demonstrated efficacy of CBD in some types of drug resistant epilepsies in combination with other therapies; comparative efficacy to other agents or placebo has been hoped for anxiety, chronic pain, and inflammatory disorders based on animal data. Although CBD products are generally treated as a restricted substance, these are being eased, partially in response to significant growth in CBD product usage and increased production but more due to emerging evidence about its safety and pharmacological properties. Currently, only one CBD product (Epidiolex®) has been approved by the Australian Therapeutic Goods Administration and US Food and Drug Administration. CBD has demonstrated promise in alleviating gut and lung diseases in vitro; however, its physicochemical properties pose a significant barrier to achieving pharmacological effects in in vivo and clinical trials. Improving CBD formulations and delivery methods using technologies including self-emulsifying emulsion, nano and micro particles could overcome these shortfalls and improve its efficacy. This review focuses on the therapeutic potential of CBD in gastrointestinal and lung diseases from the available in vitro, in vivo, and clinical research. We report on identified research gaps and obstacles in the development of CBD-based therapeutics, including novel delivery methods.

Sila-CBD Derivatives as Inhibitors of Heme-Induced NLRP3 Inflammasome: Application in Hemolytic Diseases

Synthesis and biological evaluation of silicon-incorporated phytocannabinoids with improved pharmacological properties toward inflammatory diseases are described. The synthesized sila-analogues 15a, 15b, and 15c displayed potent inhibition of pro-inflammatory cytokines, including IL-1β, TNF-α, and IL-6 at 10 μM. Further, the release of heme during the lysis of red blood cells in hemolytic diseases is one of the major reasons for inflammation associated with the pathophysiology of these diseases. Due to scanty literature related to inhibitors of heme-mediated induction of the NLRP3 inflammasome, we decided to test these compounds against it. Compounds 15a and 15c significantly inhibited the heme-mediated induction of the NLRP3 inflammasome at a concentration of 0.1 μM. Interestingly, the sila-CBD derivatives also showed higher metabolic stability in contrast to their carbon analogues. Anti-NLRP3 inflammasome activity of compounds 15a and 15c were further validated in vivo against heme-mediated peritoneal inflammation. The anti-inflammatory activity of these compounds could be useful in treating diseases such as sickle cell anemia and thalassemia involving the hemolysis-mediated activation of the NLRP3 inflammasome.

Phytocannabinoids: Pharmacological effects, biomedical applications, and worldwide prospection

Scientific evidence exists about the association between neurological diseases (i.e., Parkinson's disease, Alzheimer's disease, amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), multiple sclerosis, depression, and memory loss) and oxidative damage. The increasing worldwide incidence of such diseases is attracting the attention of researchers to find palliative medications to reduce the symptoms and promote quality of life, in particular, in developing countries, e.g., South America and Africa. Among potential alternatives, extracts of Cannabis Sativa L. are suitable for people who have neurological disorders, spasticity, and pain, nausea, resulting from diseases such as cancer and arthritis. In this review, we discuss the latest developments in the use of Cannabis, its subtypes and constituents, extraction methods, and relevant pharmacological effects. Biomedical applications, marketed products, and prospects for the worldwide use of Cannabis Sativa L. extracts are also discussed, providing the bibliometric maps of scientific literature published in representative countries from South America (i.e., Brazil) and Africa (i.e., South Africa). A lack of evidence on the effectiveness and safety of Cannabis, besides the concerns about addiction and other adverse events, has led many countries to act with caution before changing Cannabis-related regulations. Recent findings are expected to increase the social acceptance of Cannabis, while new technologies seem to boost the global cannabis market because the benefits of (-)-trans-delta-9-tetrahydrocannabinol (Δ9-THC) and cannabidiol (CBD) use have been proven in several studies in addition to the potential to general new employment.

Alterations of auditory sensory gating in mice with noise-induced tinnitus treated with nicotine and cannabis extract

Tinnitus is a phantom sound perception affecting both auditory and limbic structures. The mechanisms of tinnitus remain unclear and it is debatable whether tinnitus alters attention to sound and the ability to inhibit repetitive sounds, a phenomenon also known as auditory gating. Here we investigate if noise exposure interferes with auditory gating and whether natural extracts of cannabis or nicotine could improve auditory pre-attentional processing in noise-exposed mice. We used 22 male C57BL/6J mice divided into noise-exposed (exposed to a 9-11 kHz narrow band noise for 1 h) and sham (no sound during noise exposure) groups. Hearing thresholds were measured using auditory brainstem responses, and tinnitus-like behavior was assessed using Gap prepulse inhibition of acoustic startle. After noise exposure, mice were implanted with multi-electrodes in the dorsal hippocampus to assess auditory event-related potentials in response to paired clicks. The results showed that mice with tinnitus-like behavior displayed auditory gating of repetitive clicks, but with larger amplitudes and longer latencies of the N40 component of the aERP waveform. The combination of cannabis extract and nicotine improved the auditory gating ratio in noise-exposed mice without permanent hearing threshold shifts. Lastly, the longer latency of the N40 component appears due to an increased sensitivity to cannabis extract in noise-exposed mice compared to sham mice. The study suggests that the altered central plasticity in tinnitus is more sensitive to the combined actions on the cholinergic and the endocannabinoid systems. Overall, the findings contribute to a better understanding of pharmacological modulation of auditory sensory gating.

Pharmacological Evaluation of Newly Synthesized Cannabidiol Derivates on H9c2 Cells

Cannabidiol (CBD) is a nonpsychoactive phytocannabinoid that can be found in Cannabis sativa and possesses numerous pharmacological effects. Due to these promising effects, CBD can be used in a wide variety of diseases, for instance cardiovascular diseases. However, CBD, like tetrahydrocannabinol (THC), has low bioavailability, poor water solubility, and a variable pharmacokinetic profile, which hinders its therapeutic use. Chemical derivatization of CBD offers us potential ways to overcome these issues. We prepared three new CBD derivatives substituted on the aromatic ring by Mannich-type reactions, which have not been described so far for the modification of cannabinoids, and studied the protective effect they have on cardiomyocytes exposed to oxidative stress and hypoxia/reoxygenation (H/R) compared to the parent compound. An MTT assay was performed to determine the viability of rat cardiomyocytes treated with test compounds. Trypan blue exclusion and lactate dehydrogenase (LDH) release assays were carried out to study the effect of the new compounds in cells exposed to H2O2 or hypoxia/reoxygenation (H/R). Direct antioxidant activity was evaluated by a total antioxidant capacity (TAC) assay. To study antioxidant protein levels, HO-1, SOD, catalase, and Western blot analysis were carried out. pIC50 (the negative log of the IC50) values were as follows: CBD1: 4.113, CBD2: 3.995, CBD3: 4.190, and CBD: 4.671. The newly synthesized CBD derivatives prevented cell death induced by H/R, especially CBD2. CBD has the largest direct antioxidant activity. The levels of antioxidant proteins were increased differently after pretreatment with synthetic CBD derivatives and CBD. Taken together, our newly synthesized CBD derivatives are able to decrease cytotoxicity during oxidative stress and H/R. The compounds have similar or better effects than CBD on H9c2 cells.

Investigation of cannabidiol's potential targets in limbic seizures. In-silico approach

Even though the vast armamentarium of FDA-approved antiepileptic drugs is currently available, over one-third of patients do not respond to medication, which arises a need for alternative medicine. In clinical and preclinical studies, various investigations have shown the advantage of specific plant-based cannabidiol (CBD) products in treating certain groups of people with limbic epilepsy who have failed to respond to conventional therapies. This work aims to investigate possible mechanisms by which CBD possesses its anticonvulsant properties. Molecular targets for CBD's treatment of limbic epilepsy, including hyperpolarization-activated cyclic nucleotide-gated channel 1 (HCN1), gamma-aminobutyric acid aminotransferase (GABA-AT), and gamma-aminobutyric acid type A receptor (GABAA), were used to evaluate its binding affinity. Interactions with the CB1 receptor were initially modeled as a benchmark, which further proved the efficiency of proposed here approach. Considering the successful benchmark, we further used the same concept for in silico investigation, targeting proteins of interest. As a result of molecular docking, molecular mechanics, and molecular dynamics simulations models of CBD-receptor complexes were proposed and evaluated. While CBD possessed decently high affinity and stability within the binding pockets of GABA-AT and some binding sites of GABAA, the most effective binding was observed in the CBD complex with HCN1 receptor. 100 ns molecular dynamics simulation revealed that CBD binds the open pore of HCN1 receptor, forming a similar pattern of interactions as potent Lamotrigine. Therefore, we can propose that HCN1 can serve as a most potent target for cannabinoid antiepileptic treatment. Communicated by Ramaswamy H. Sarma.

Therapeutic Potential of Minor Cannabinoids in Dermatological Diseases-A Synthetic Review

Dermatological diseases pose a significant burden on the quality of life of individuals and can be challenging to treat effectively. In this aspect, cannabinoids are gaining increasing importance due to their therapeutic potential in various disease entities including skin diseases. In this synthetic review, we comprehensively analyzed the existing literature in the field of potential dermatological applications of a lesser-known subgroup of cannabinoids, the so-called minor cannabinoids, such as cannabidivarin (CBDV), cannabidiforol (CBDP), cannabichromene (CBC), tetrahydrocannabivarin (THCV), cannabigerolic acid (CBGA), cannabigerol (CBG), cannabielsoin (CBE), cannabimovone (CBM) or cannabinol (CBN), while drawing attention to their unique pharmacological properties. We systematically searched the available databases for relevant studies and analyzed the data to provide an overview of current thematic knowledge. We looked through the full-text, bibliographic and factographic databases, especially Scopus, Web of Science, PubMed, Polish Scientific Journals Database, and selected the most relevant papers. Our review highlights that minor cannabinoids exhibit diverse pharmacological activities, including anti-inflammatory, analgesic, antimicrobial, and anti-itch properties. Several studies have reported their efficacy in mitigating symptoms associated with dermatological diseases such as psoriasis, eczema, acne, and pruritus. Furthermore, minor cannabinoids have shown potential in regulating sebum production, a crucial factor in acne pathogenesis. The findings of this review suggest that minor cannabinoids hold therapeutic promise in the management of dermatological diseases. Further preclinical and clinical investigations are warranted to elucidate their mechanisms of action, determine optimal dosage regimens, and assess long-term safety profiles. Incorporating minor cannabinoids into dermatological therapies could potentially offer novel treatment options of patients and improve their overall well-being.

Argentination: A Silver Bullet for Cannabinoid Separation by Differential Mobility Spectrometry

As the legality of cannabis continues to evolve globally, there is a growing demand for methods that can accurately quantitate cannabinoids found in commercial products. However, the isobaric nature of many cannabinoids, along with variations in extraction methods and product formulations, makes cannabinoid quantitation by mass spectrometry (MS) challenging. Here, we demonstrate that differential mobility spectrometry (DMS) and tandem-MS can distinguish a set of seven cannabinoids, five of which are isobaric: Δ⁹-tetrahydrocannabinol (Δ⁹-THC), Δ⁸-THC, exo-THC, cannabidiol, cannabichromene, cannabinol, and cannabigerol. Analytes were detected as argentinated species ([M + Ag]⁺), which, when subjected to collision-induced dissociation, led to the unexpected discovery that argentination promotes distinct fragmentation patterns for each cannabinoid. The unique fragment ions formed were rationalized by discerning fragmentation mechanisms that follow each cannabinoid's MS³ behavior. The differing fragmentation behaviors between species suggest that argentination can distinguish cannabinoids by tandem-MS, although not quantitatively as some cannabinoids produce small amounts of a fragment ion that is isobaric with the major fragment generated by another cannabinoid. By adding DMS to the tandem-MS workflow, it becomes possible to resolve each cannabinoid in a pure N₂ environment by deconvoluting the contribution of each cannabinoid to a specific fragmentation channel. To this end, we used DMS in conjunction with a multiple reaction monitoring workflow to assess cannabinoid levels in two cannabis extracts. Our methodology exhibited excellent accuracy, limits of detection (10-20 ppb depending on the cannabinoid), and linearity during quantitation by standard addition (R² > 0.99).

Chemical constituents of industrial hemp roots and their anti-inflammatory activities

OBJECTIVE

Although the chemical constituents of the aerial parts of Cannabis have been extensively studied, phytochemicals of Cannabis roots are not well characterized. Herein, we investigated the chemical constituents of industrial hemp (Cannabis sativa L.) roots and evaluated the anti-inflammatory activities of phytochemicals isolated from the hemp roots extract.

METHODS

An ethyl acetate extract of hemp roots was subjected to a combination of chromatographic columns to isolate phytochemicals. The chemical structures of the isolates were elucidated based on spectroscopic analyses (by nuclear magnetic resonance and mass spectrometry). The anti-inflammatory effects of phytochemicals from hemp roots were evaluated in an anti-inflammasome assay using human monocyte THP-1 cells.

RESULTS

Phytochemical investigation of hemp roots extract led to the identification of 32 structurally diverse compounds including six cannabinoids (1-6), three phytosterols (26-28), four triterpenoids (22-25), five lignans (17-21), and 10 hydroxyl contained compounds (7-16), three fatty acids (29-31), and an unsaturated chain hydrocarbon (32). Compounds 14-21, 23, 27, and 32 were identified from the Cannabis species for the first time. Cannabinoids (1-5) reduced the level of cytokine tumor necrosis-alpha (by 38.2, 58.4, 47.7, 52.2, and 56.1%, respectively) and 2 and 5 also decreased the interleukin-1β production (by 42.2 and 92.4%, respectively) in a cell-based inflammasome model. In addition, non-cannabinoids including 11, 13, 20, 25, 29, and 32 also showed selective inhibition of interleukin-1β production (by 23.7, 22.5, 25.6, 78.0, 24.1, 46.6, and 25.4%, respectively) in THP-1 cells.

CONCLUSION

The phytochemical constituent of a hemp roots extract was characterized and compounds from hemp roots exerted promising anti-inflammatory effects.

8,9-Dihydrocannabidiol, an Alternative of Cannabidiol, Its Preparation, Antibacterial and Antioxidant Ability

Cannabidiol (CBD) from Cannabis sativa is used in cosmetics in North America due to its antibacterial and antioxidant properties, but has been prohibited in many countries except recently; so, finding a non-intoxicating CBD alternative and elucidating the structure−function relationship of CBD analogues is becoming increasingly relevant. Herein, a set of CBD analogues including 8,9-dihydrocannabidiol (H2CBD) was synthesized, and their antibacterial, bactericidal, and antioxidant activity, as well as their structure−function relationship, were studied. The results present a catalytic selectivity near 100% towards H2CBD with a production yield of 85%. Each CBD analogue presented different antibacterial and antioxidant activity. It is revealed that the phenolic hydroxyl moiety is an essential group for CBD analogues to perform antibacterial and antioxidant activities. Among them, H2CBD presented much stronger antibacterial activity than the assayed popular antibiotics. H2CBD and Compound 4 presented very similar radical scavenging activity and inhibition on lipid oxidation to vitamin C, but better thermostability. Moreover, H2CBD presented lower toxicity to human skin fibroblasts at concentrations up to 64-fold higher than its MIC value (1.25 μg/mL) against S. aureus. Above all, in all property experiments, H2CBD presented extremely similar performance to CBD (p < 0.05), including similar time−kill kinetics curves. This research finds H2CBD to be an alternative for CBD with very high potential in the aspects of antibacterial, bactericidal, and antioxidant activity, as well as lower toxicity to human skin fibroblasts.

Endocannabinoid-Binding Receptors as Drug Targets

Cannabis plant has been used from ancient times with therapeutic purposes for treating human pathologies, but the identification of the cellular and molecular mechanisms underlying the therapeutic properties of the phytocannabinoids, the active compounds in this plant, occurred in the last years of the past century. In the late 1980s and early 1990s, seminal studies demonstrated the existence of cannabinoid receptors and other elements of the so-called endocannabinoid system. These G protein-coupled receptors (GPCRs) are a key element in the functions assigned to endocannabinoids and appear to serve as promising pharmacological targets. They include CB₁, CB₂, and GPR55, but also non-GPCRs can be activated by endocannabinoids, like ionotropic receptor TRPV₁ and even nuclear receptors of the PPAR family. Their activation, inhibition, or simply modulation have been associated with numerous physiological effects at both central and peripheral levels, which may have therapeutic value in different human pathologies, then providing a solid experimental explanation for both the ancient medicinal uses of Cannabis plant and the recent advances in the development of cannabinoid-based specific therapies. This chapter will review the scientific knowledge generated in the last years around the research on the different endocannabinoid-binding receptors and their signaling mechanisms. Our intention is that this knowledge may help readers to understand the relevance of these receptors in health and disease conditions, as well as it may serve as the theoretical basis for the different experimental protocols to investigate these receptors and their signaling mechanisms that will be described in the following chapters.

Minor Phytocannabinoids: A Misleading Name but a Promising Opportunity for Biomedical Research

Despite the very large number of phytocannabinoids isolated from Cannabis (Cannabis sativa L.), bioactivity studies have long remained focused on the so called “Big Four” [Δ⁹-THC (1), CBD (2), CBG (3) and CBC (4)] because of their earlier characterization and relatively easy availability via isolation and/or synthesis. Bioactivity information on the chemical space associated with the remaining part of the cannabinome, a set of ca 150 compounds traditionally referred to as “minor phytocannabinoids”, is scarce and patchy, yet promising in terms of pharmacological potential. According to their advancement stage, we sorted the bioactivity data available on these compounds, better referred to as the “dark cannabinome”, into categories: discovery (in vitro phenotypical and biochemical assays), preclinical (animal models), and clinical. Strategies to overcome the availability issues associated with minor phytocannabinoids are discussed, as well as the still unmet challenges facing their development as mainstream drugs.

Synthetic Strategies for Rare Cannabinoids Derived from Cannabis sativa

Efficient syntheses of eight key cannabinoids were established and optimized. Predominant cannabinoids such as cannabigerol (CBG-C₅) and cannabidiol (CBD-C₅) were prepared from olivetol via regioselective condensation. Further treatments of CBD led to Δ⁹-tetrahydrocannabinol (THC-C₅), Δ⁸-iso-tetrahydrocannabinol (iso-THC-C₅), and cannabinol (CBN-C₅). Alternatively, a [3 + 3] annulation between olivetol and citral yielded the minor cannabinoid cannabichromene (CBC-C₅), which was converted into two very rare polycycles, cannabicyclol (CBL-C₅) and cannabicitran (CBT-C₅), in a one-pot reaction. Finally, all eight syntheses were extended by utilizing resorcinol and two phenolic analogues, achieving a cannabinoid group with more than 30 compounds through a facile synthesis strategy.

Phytocannabinoids and Cannabis-Based Products as Alternative Pharmacotherapy in Neurodegenerative Diseases: From Hypothesis to Clinical Practice

Historically, Cannabis is one of the first plants to be domesticated and used in medicine, though only in the last years the amount of Cannabis-based products or medicines has increased worldwide. Previous preclinical studies and few published clinical trials have demonstrated the efficacy and safety of Cannabis-based medicines in humans. Indeed, Cannabis-related medicines are used to treat multiple pathological conditions, including neurodegenerative disorders. In clinical practice, Cannabis products have already been introduced to treatment regimens of Alzheimer’s disease, Parkinson’s disease and Multiple Sclerosis’s patients, and the mechanisms of action behind the reported improvement in the clinical outcome and disease progression are associated with their anti-inflammatory, immunosuppressive, antioxidant, and neuroprotective properties, due to the modulation of the endocannabinoid system. In this review, we describe the role played by the endocannabinoid system in the physiopathology of Alzheimer, Parkinson, and Multiple Sclerosis, mainly at the neuroimmunological level. We also discuss the evidence for the correlation between phytocannabinoids and their therapeutic effects in these disorders, thus describing the main clinical studies carried out so far on the therapeutic performance of Cannabis-based medicines.

Chronic Pain and the Endocannabinoid System: Smart Lipids - A Novel Therapeutic Option?

The development of a high-end cannabinoid-based therapy is the result of intense translational research, aiming to convert recent discoveries in the laboratory into better treatments for patients. Novel compounds and new regimes for drug treatment are emerging. Given that previously unreported signaling mechanisms for cannabinoids have been uncovered, clinical studies detailing their high therapeutic potential are mandatory. The advent of novel genomic, optogenetic, and viral tracing and imaging techniques will help to further detail therapeutically relevant functional and structural features. An evolutionarily highly conserved group of neuromodulatory lipids, their receptors, and anabolic and catabolic enzymes are involved in a remarkable variety of physiological and pathological processes and has been termed the endocannabinoid system (ECS). A large body of data has emerged in recent years, pointing to a crucial role of this system in the regulation of the behavioral domains of acquired fear, anxiety, and stress-coping. Besides neurons, also glia cells and components of the immune system can differentially fine-tune patterns of neuronal activity. Dysregulation of ECS signaling can lead to a lowering of stress resilience and increased incidence of psychiatric disorders. Chronic pain may be understood as a disease process evoked by fear-conditioned nociceptive input and appears as the dark side of neuronal plasticity. By taking a toll on every part of your life, this abnormal persistent memory of an aversive state can be more damaging than its initial experience. All strategies for the treatment of chronic pain conditions must consider stress-related comorbid conditions since cognitive factors such as beliefs, expectations, and prior experience (memory of pain) are key modulators of the perception of pain. The anxiolytic and anti-stress effects of medical cannabinoids can substantially modulate the efficacy and tolerability of therapeutic interventions and will help to pave the way to a successful multimodal therapy. Why some individuals are more susceptible to the effects of stress remains to be uncovered. The development of personalized prevention or treatment strategies for anxiety and depression related to chronic pain must also consider gender differences. An emotional basis of chronic pain opens a new horizon of opportunities for developing treatment strategies beyond the repeated sole use of acutely acting analgesics. A phase I trial to determine the pharmacokinetics, psychotropic effects, and safety profile of a novel nanoparticle-based cannabinoid spray for oromucosal delivery highlights a remarkable innovation in galenic technology and urges clinical studies further detailing the huge therapeutic potential of medical cannabis (Lorenzl et al.; this issue).

Carbon-silicon switch led to the discovery of novel synthetic cannabinoids with therapeutic effects in a mouse model of multiple sclerosis

Cannabinoids are widely studied as therapeutic agents for the treatment of various diseases. Among them, THC and CBD are two important phytocannabinoids which have served as structural templates for the design of synthetic analogs. In this study, we designed and synthesized a variety of novel cannabinoids based on the structural backbones of THC and CBD using the carbon-silicon switch strategy. A dimethyl silyl group was introduced as the tail group and two series of novel compounds were designed and synthesized, which showed a wide range of binding affinity for CB1 and CB2 receptors. Among them, compound 15b was identified as a non-selective CB1 and CB2 agonist and 38b as a selective agonist for the CB2 receptor. Preliminary screening showed that both compounds have improved metabolic stability than their carbon analogs and good in vivo pharmacokinetic profiles. Furthermore, both 15b and 38b significantly alleviated the phenotype of experimental autoimmune encephalomyelitis (EAE) in mice.

Gas Chromatographic Fingerprint Analysis for the Comparison of Seized Cannabis Samples

Cannabis sativa L. is widely used as recreational illegal drugs. Illicit Cannabis profiling, comparing seized samples, is challenging due to natural Cannabis heterogeneity. The aim of this study was to use GC–FID and GC–MS herbal fingerprints for intra (within)- and inter (between)-location variability evaluation. This study focused on finding an acceptable threshold to link seized samples. Through Pearson correlation-coefficient calculations between intra-location samples, ‘linked’ thresholds were derived using 95% and 99% confidence limits. False negative (FN) and false positive (FP) error rate calculations, aiming at obtaining the lowest possible FP value, were performed for different data pre-treatments. Fingerprint-alignment parameters were optimized using Automated Correlation-Optimized Warping (ACOW) or Design of Experiments (DoE), which presented similar results. Hence, ACOW data, as reference, showed 54% and 65% FP values (95 and 99% confidence, respectively). An additional fourth root normalization pre-treatment provided the best results for both the GC–FID and GC–MS datasets. For GC–FID, which showed the best improved FP error rate, 54 and 65% FP for the reference data decreased to 24 and 32%, respectively, after fourth root transformation. Cross-validation showed FP values similar as the entire calibration set, indicating the representativeness of the thresholds. A noteworthy improvement in discrimination between seized Cannabis samples could be concluded.

Cannabis sativa: Interdisciplinary Strategies and Avenues for Medical and Commercial Progression Outside of CBD and THC

Cannabis sativa (Cannabis) is one of the world’s most well-known, yet maligned plant species. However, significant recent research is starting to unveil the potential of Cannabis to produce secondary compounds that may offer a suite of medical benefits, elevating this unique plant species from its illicit narcotic status into a genuine biopharmaceutical. This review summarises the lengthy history of Cannabis and details the molecular pathways that underpin the production of key secondary metabolites that may confer medical efficacy. We also provide an up-to-date summary of the molecular targets and potential of the relatively unknown minor compounds offered by the Cannabis plant. Furthermore, we detail the recent advances in plant science, as well as synthetic biology, and the pharmacology surrounding Cannabis. Given the relative infancy of Cannabis research, we go on to highlight the parallels to previous research conducted in another medically relevant and versatile plant, Papaver somniferum (opium poppy), as an indicator of the possible future direction of Cannabis plant biology. Overall, this review highlights the future directions of cannabis research outside of the medical biology aspects of its well-characterised constituents and explores additional avenues for the potential improvement of the medical potential of the Cannabis plant.

Structural revision of a Wnt/β-catenin modulator and confirmation of cannabielsoin constitution and configuration

In this report, we revise the structure for a previously reported synthetic product proposed to be the 1R,2S-cannabidiol epoxide and reassign it as cannabielsoin using anisotropic NMR and synthetic chemistry methods.