While the German government is planning to relax legislation on the use of cannabis, researchers from the Friedrich Schiller University Jena, together with colleagues from Italy, Austria and the U.S., have identified the mode of action underlying anti-inflammatory effects demonstrated by cannabinoids.
A few days ago, the federal government took the controversial decision to make the acquisition and possession of small amounts of cannabis exempt from punishment. Provided the German parliament approves the draft bill, the “Cannabis Act” will come into force next year. While some consider this move to be long overdue, others continue to warn strongly against the health risks of cannabis use.
The Jena researchers and their colleagues are now taking a different look at cannabis—at the traditional medicinal plant—with a study published in the journal Cell Chemical Biology. The team from the Institute of Pharmacy investigated how certain ingredients from the cannabis plant counteract inflammation. It was already known from previous studies that cannabis is not only an analgesic and an antispasmodic, but also has an anti-inflammatory effect.
“However, the reason for the anti-inflammatory effect was largely unclear until now,” says Dr. Paul Mike Jordan, who led the study together with Prof. Oliver Werz.
The researchers studied how different cannabinoids, including the psychoactive THC (tetrahydrocannabinol) and CBD (cannabidiol), which is already found in freely available products today, act on human immune cells. “We found that all eight cannabinoids we studied had anti-inflammatory effects,” says Lukas Peltner, doctoral student and first author of the study. “All the compounds we studied were found to inhibit the formation of pro-inflammatory messenger substances in cells while enhancing the formation of inflammation-resolving substances.”
2023-08-30 00:48:02
Post from phys.org