BMJ  2004;329:257-258 (31 July), doi:10.1136/bmj.38168.627292.0B (published 16 July 2004)

Science commentary

High hopes for cannabinoid analgesia

Geoff Watts, science editor, BMJ1

1 28 New End Square, London NW3 1LS geoff@scileg.freeserve.co.uk

The first 150 words of the full text of this article appear below.

Several decades of irrational prejudice may have hampered clinical research on cannabis as a medicine, but work on the pharmacology of its active ingredients has been making steady progress. Just as the body has a natural counterpart to the opiate drugs, so too it makes its own endogenous cannabinoids. These act through receptors, of which two variants—CB1 and CB2—have been definitely identified and at least one other is suspected. The CB1 receptors are located only in the brain; their CB2 counterparts are found peripherally, and especially on the cells of the immune system. Cannabinoid receptors are present not just in vertebrates but also in molluscs, leeches, and other invertebrate groups that have been evolutionarily separate for 500 million years. The fact that natural selection has for so long conserved these receptors is an indication of their physiological importance.

Anandamide, the first natural cannabinoid to be isolated, came to light . . . [Full text of this article]


Add to CiteULike CiteULike   Add to Complore Complore   Add to Connotea Connotea   Add to Del.icio.us Del.icio.us   Add to Digg Digg   Add to Reddit Reddit   Add to StumbleUpon StumbleUpon   Add to Technorati Technorati    What's this?

Relevant Article

Does the cannabinoid dronabinol reduce central pain in multiple sclerosis? Randomised double blind placebo controlled crossover trial
Kristina B Svendsen, Troels S Jensen, and Flemming W Bach
BMJ 2004 329: 253. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

Access jobs at BMJ Careers
Whats new online at Student BMJ