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HEMP HELPS TO HEAL

International research team clarifies mode of action of cannabinoids in
inflammatio
Cannabis is a traditional medicinal plant.
Image: Marco Körner (Universität Jena)
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Published: 29 August 2023, 17:00 | By: Ute Schönfelder

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 USA, 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.”


CBD INDUCES A SWITCH IN IMMUNE CELLS

CBD in particular proved to be highly effective and the team investigated it in
more detail with regard to its mode of action. The researchers were able to
determine that CBD activates the 15-lipoxygenase-1 enzyme, which triggers the
production of inflammation-resolving messenger substances that subsequently
cause the inflammation to subside. “CBD thus induces a switch in the affected
cells, so to speak, which steers the inflammatory process from the promoting to
the inhibiting side,” explains Dr Jordan. The researchers were also able to
confirm these results, which were obtained in cell cultures, in animal
experiments on mice.

In the long term, the insights gained could lead to new therapeutic strategies
for treating inflammatory diseases, the researchers conclude. The focus should
be on CBD, which was the most effective cannabinoid in the study. Previously
approved preparations with cannabinoids contain CBD, “but also the psychoactive
THC, which can be associated with a variety of side effects”, notes Dr Jordan.
Therapeutics containing only CBD would reduce this problem.

The research work has been carried out within the Collaborative Research
Centres „ChemBioSys“External link and „PolyTarget“ de of the University of Jena
and has been funded by the German Research Foundation.

Dr Paul Mike Jordan (l.) investigates the actions of cannabinoids in humans with
Lukas K. Peltner (r.).
Image: Anna König

Information

Original publication:

Peltner LK et al. Cannabidiol acts as molecular switch in innate immune cells to
promote the biosynthesis of inflammation-resolving lipid mediators, Cell
Chemical Biology (2023). https://doi.org/10.1016/j.chembiol.2023.08.001External
link


CONTACT:

Paul Mike Jordan

Professorship of Pharmaceutical/Medical Chemistry
paul.jordan@uni-jena.de
+49 3641 9-49809
Room D 201-B
Philosophenweg 14
07743 Jena
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