Cuddles
05-07-2008, 05:02 PM
Found on the net:
Might be old news but I thought I´d post it anyway.
Cannabis helps treat allergic reactions
New Zealand Herald
June 10th, 2007
A cannabis folk remedy has been resurrected by scientists who found that active ingredients in the drug reduce allergic reactions.
The research, conducted on mice, points the way towards new cannabis-based treatments for irritated skin.
Extracts from the hemp plant were traditionally used to treat inflammation and could be bought from chemists in the early part of the 20th century.
But fears about the intoxicating effects of tetrahydrocannabinol (THC), the chemical that causes the cannabis high, led to a ban on sales in the 1930s.
The new research suggests that the herbalists who used cannabis ointments to treat eczema knew what they were doing.
Scientists now believe that cannabis skin lotion, in a safe form too diluted to affect the brain, could make a comeback. The team from the University of Bonn in Germany stumbled on the anti-inflammatory effect of THC while conducting a brain study on mice. The animals were genetically engineered so they could not respond to cannabinoids, either THC or its natural equivalents generated in the brain.
Unexpectedly, the skin around ear clips placed on the mice to identify them became red and sore.
The scientists realised what this meant - that cannabinoids act like a brake, preventing the immune system from running out of control and triggering inflammation.
For 20 years scientists have known that the brain produces cannabinoids, but it has not been clear why.
They appear to have psychological effects, and influence bone growth. Another possible explanation now seems to be that they help regulate the immune system.
The German scientists confirmed their suspicions by dabbing THC ointment on the skin of mice exposed to allergens. Professor Thomas Tuting, a member of the team, said: "If we dabbed THC solution on to the animals' skin shortly before and after applying the allergen, a lot less swelling occurred than normal.
"The THC attaches itself to the cannabinoid receptors and activates them. In this way, the active substance reduces the allergic reaction."
He said the amount of THC needed to treat skin allergies would be far too small to produce intoxicating effects.
Another option was to develop drugs which prevented the breakdown of natural cannabinoids in the brain.
source:
http://www.safeaccessnow.org/article.php?id=4768
and
Cannabis compound reduces skin allergies in mice
19:00 07 June 2007
NewScientist.com news service
Roxanne Khamsi
Cannabis can reduce allergic skin reactions, a new study suggests. The findings may lead to new drugs based on tetrahydrocannabinol (THC), the active ingredient in the plant, to treat allergy and autoimmune disorders.
Andreas Zimmer at the University of Bonn in Germany, and colleagues created a group of mice that lack the receptor for endocannabinoids – forms of THC produced naturally in the body. The team noticed that the mice soon developed a severe skin allergy to the nickel in the metal tags the researchers had fastened to their ears.
Zimmer set up a series of experiments to test the anti-allergy effect of natural and synthetic THC compounds.
Immune suppressant
For example, he exposed the ears of mice with normal endocannabinoid receptors to a chemical irritant called dinitrofluorobenzene (DNFB), which causes a severe skin reaction similar to that caused by poison ivy in humans.
Within a matter of minutes, the amount of an endocannabinoid called anandamide jumped from undetectable levels to about 300 picomoles per gram of analysed tissue.
When Zimmer's team applied 30 micrograms of synthetic THC to the animals' ears it reduced the skin irritation by half. For comparison, a cannabis cigarette contains as much as 150 milligrams of THC.
Endocannabinoids may be produced by the body to dampen the immune response and so prevent allergic reactions, Zimmer believes. He also found that mouse skin cells exposed to synthetic THC release fewer cytokines, chemicals that attract immune cells to the site of infection or irritation.
Lowered attraction
Ramesh Ganju at the Harvard Cancer Center in Boston, Massachusetts, US, believes that a study he published in 2006 could also help explain what the European researchers found.
He revealed that dunking T cells – immune cells that flag foreign particles in the body and trigger allergy – into a solution containing synthetic THC caused them to become up to 70% less attracted to cytokine signals (Molecular Immunology, DOI:10.1016/j.molimm.2006.01.005).
Ganju says that Zimmer's findings provide further evidence that endocannabinoids "probably have a role in autoimmune diseases".
Zimmer agrees, suggesting that people with inflammatory conditions such as asthma and eczema might not produce enough endocannabinoids or related cell receptors. He adds that one day therapies based on THC-like compounds might be used to treat such disorders.
Researchers stress that people who currently suffer from autoimmune disease should not try to self-medicate with marijuana because of its side-effects.
Journal reference: Science (DOI: 10.1126/science.1142265)
source:
http://www.newscientist.com/article/dn12016-cannabis-compound-reduces-skin-allergies-in-mice.html
Might be old news but I thought I´d post it anyway.
Cannabis helps treat allergic reactions
New Zealand Herald
June 10th, 2007
A cannabis folk remedy has been resurrected by scientists who found that active ingredients in the drug reduce allergic reactions.
The research, conducted on mice, points the way towards new cannabis-based treatments for irritated skin.
Extracts from the hemp plant were traditionally used to treat inflammation and could be bought from chemists in the early part of the 20th century.
But fears about the intoxicating effects of tetrahydrocannabinol (THC), the chemical that causes the cannabis high, led to a ban on sales in the 1930s.
The new research suggests that the herbalists who used cannabis ointments to treat eczema knew what they were doing.
Scientists now believe that cannabis skin lotion, in a safe form too diluted to affect the brain, could make a comeback. The team from the University of Bonn in Germany stumbled on the anti-inflammatory effect of THC while conducting a brain study on mice. The animals were genetically engineered so they could not respond to cannabinoids, either THC or its natural equivalents generated in the brain.
Unexpectedly, the skin around ear clips placed on the mice to identify them became red and sore.
The scientists realised what this meant - that cannabinoids act like a brake, preventing the immune system from running out of control and triggering inflammation.
For 20 years scientists have known that the brain produces cannabinoids, but it has not been clear why.
They appear to have psychological effects, and influence bone growth. Another possible explanation now seems to be that they help regulate the immune system.
The German scientists confirmed their suspicions by dabbing THC ointment on the skin of mice exposed to allergens. Professor Thomas Tuting, a member of the team, said: "If we dabbed THC solution on to the animals' skin shortly before and after applying the allergen, a lot less swelling occurred than normal.
"The THC attaches itself to the cannabinoid receptors and activates them. In this way, the active substance reduces the allergic reaction."
He said the amount of THC needed to treat skin allergies would be far too small to produce intoxicating effects.
Another option was to develop drugs which prevented the breakdown of natural cannabinoids in the brain.
source:
http://www.safeaccessnow.org/article.php?id=4768
and
Cannabis compound reduces skin allergies in mice
19:00 07 June 2007
NewScientist.com news service
Roxanne Khamsi
Cannabis can reduce allergic skin reactions, a new study suggests. The findings may lead to new drugs based on tetrahydrocannabinol (THC), the active ingredient in the plant, to treat allergy and autoimmune disorders.
Andreas Zimmer at the University of Bonn in Germany, and colleagues created a group of mice that lack the receptor for endocannabinoids – forms of THC produced naturally in the body. The team noticed that the mice soon developed a severe skin allergy to the nickel in the metal tags the researchers had fastened to their ears.
Zimmer set up a series of experiments to test the anti-allergy effect of natural and synthetic THC compounds.
Immune suppressant
For example, he exposed the ears of mice with normal endocannabinoid receptors to a chemical irritant called dinitrofluorobenzene (DNFB), which causes a severe skin reaction similar to that caused by poison ivy in humans.
Within a matter of minutes, the amount of an endocannabinoid called anandamide jumped from undetectable levels to about 300 picomoles per gram of analysed tissue.
When Zimmer's team applied 30 micrograms of synthetic THC to the animals' ears it reduced the skin irritation by half. For comparison, a cannabis cigarette contains as much as 150 milligrams of THC.
Endocannabinoids may be produced by the body to dampen the immune response and so prevent allergic reactions, Zimmer believes. He also found that mouse skin cells exposed to synthetic THC release fewer cytokines, chemicals that attract immune cells to the site of infection or irritation.
Lowered attraction
Ramesh Ganju at the Harvard Cancer Center in Boston, Massachusetts, US, believes that a study he published in 2006 could also help explain what the European researchers found.
He revealed that dunking T cells – immune cells that flag foreign particles in the body and trigger allergy – into a solution containing synthetic THC caused them to become up to 70% less attracted to cytokine signals (Molecular Immunology, DOI:10.1016/j.molimm.2006.01.005).
Ganju says that Zimmer's findings provide further evidence that endocannabinoids "probably have a role in autoimmune diseases".
Zimmer agrees, suggesting that people with inflammatory conditions such as asthma and eczema might not produce enough endocannabinoids or related cell receptors. He adds that one day therapies based on THC-like compounds might be used to treat such disorders.
Researchers stress that people who currently suffer from autoimmune disease should not try to self-medicate with marijuana because of its side-effects.
Journal reference: Science (DOI: 10.1126/science.1142265)
source:
http://www.newscientist.com/article/dn12016-cannabis-compound-reduces-skin-allergies-in-mice.html