Abstract Introduction: As cannabis use continues to increase in popularity, it is important to investigate how it impacts public health in all sectors of the population, including patients undergoing anesthetic management. This retrospective study focuses on the orthopedic trauma population presenting through an emergency department (ED) and receiving a urine drug screen (UDS) with subsequent urgent surgical intervention. We aimed to evaluate differences in response to general anesthesia in patients with exposure to THC, a major cannabinoid, compared to controls that screened negative for THC. Materials and Methods: All ED visits at UC Irvine, a level 1 trauma center between November 4, 2017 and January 7,...

Abstract Substances from the Cannabis sativa species, especially cannabidiol (CBD) and Delta-9-tetrahydrocannabinol (Δ9-THC), have attracted medical attention in recent years. The actions of these two main cannabinoids modulate the cholinergic nervous system (CholNS) involving development, synaptic plasticity, and response to endogenous and environmental damage, as a characteristic of many neurodegenerative diseases. The dynamics of these diseases are mediated by specific neurotransmitters, such as the GABAergic nervous system (GNS) and the CholNS. The nematode Caenorhabditis elegans is an important experimental model, which has different neurotransmitter systems that coordinate its behavior and has a transgene strain that encodes the human β-amyloid 1–42 peptide in body wall muscle, one of the...

Abstract Due to differences in potency, efficacy, and affinity for CB1 receptors, similarities and differences in psychoactive effect profiles of natural cannabis and synthetic cannabinoids (SCs) cannot reliably be derived from equipotent dose comparisons. Instead, the current study proposes to compare the intrinsic psychoactive effects of natural cannabis (THC) and an SC, JWH-018, at psychotropic dose equivalence. Participants from two placebo-controlled studies were matched for their levels of subjective high to compare neurocognitive and psychotomimetic effects of THC and JWH-018. At equal subjective intoxication levels, both drugs impaired psychomotor, divided attention, and impulse control, with no significant difference between the two drugs. Both drugs...

Abstract Marijuana and hashish, from the plant Cannabis sativa L, are the illicit drugs most frequently used worldwide. Cannabis is well known for its recreational effects being popular among adolescents and young adults and is often perceived as harmless. Cannabis, however, impairs working and short-term memory and is associated with decline in academic functioning, impaired driving skills, cognitive impairment, and progression to other illicit substance use. Cannabis use has also been linked to a propensity for developing psychotic events while neuroimaging studies indicated brain volume changes in heavy and chronic users. Cannabis effects are ascribed to its major psychoactive constituent delta-9- tetrahydrocannabinol (Δ9-THC) acting...

Please use this link to access this publication. Abstract Introduction: Human studies about the impact of cannabis use on both healthy kidneys as well as kidney function in patients with kidney disease are lacking. To shed more light on this understudied topic, we reevaluated a previous clinical study. The sample of this study was exclusively suited for investigating effects of recreational long-term cannabis use on humans under real-life conditions. Methods: This special sample had sought and was undergoing inpatient detox-treatment. It was characterized by a lone and considerable cannabis-dependence without any other relevant active comorbidity (except of a concurrent nicotine-dependence). In the present post hoc analysis, we are...

Please use this link to access this publication. Abstract Investigating the acute effects of cannabinoids consumption on circulating levels of endocannabinoids. Introduction Cannabis remains the most commonly used drug of abuse worldwide and the legalization in several states caused a drastic change in the variety of products available on the market. Over the past few years, several studies reported that the average concentration of Δ9-tetrahydrocannabinol (THC) drastically increased as well as the availability of products containing different combinations of THC and other cannabinoids, mainly cannabidiol (CBD). However, little is known about the acute effects of THC and/or CBD on the lipidome and more specifically the endocannabinoid system. The aim of the present study...

Context: The management of behavioral symptoms and rigidity in patients with dementia constitutes a significant challenge. Short-term studies suggest an interest in the use of medical cannabis, but long-term data are lacking. Objectives: The objective of this study was to investigate the feasibility and long-term safety of administering tetrahydrocannabinol/cannabidiol (THC/CBD) treatment as an additional drug to a poly medicated population with severe dementia, evaluate clinical improvements, and collect information on the pharmacokinetics of cannabinoids and possible drug–drug interactions. Methods: A prospective observational study of patients with severe dementia living in a long-term care home to whom the physicians had prescribed a medical cannabis treatment. Data were collected...

Abstract Cannabis is the most widely used illicit drug worldwide. Evidence indicated negative impact for cannabis on the brain. Animal research and in vitro studies using delta-9-THC (THC) or cannabis extracts with high THC content provided evidence for a detrimental effect on neuronal integrity with DNA damage, cell shrinkage, atrophy and apoptosis. The mechanisms by which herbal cannabis affects brain structure and function are not clear but impaired mitochondrial functioning, reduced glucose availability and inhibition of brain energetic metabolism by cannabis have been shown. Clinical studies investigating the effects of cannabis in humans found raised serum levels of proinflammatory cytokines in chronic cannabis users....

ABSTRACT Background and Objective: Medical cannabis is becoming an acceptable treatment modality in medicine, especially for pain relief. Concurrently, cannabis use is becoming more prevalent worldwide, a public demand-driven trend despite the lack of established scientific basis. This observational open-label study sought to investigate the effectiveness of cannabis therapy for alleviating low back pain symptoms. Methods: Two types of cannabis treatment modalities were sequentially administered to chronic low back pain patients. After an initial 1-month washout period (WO1), the first modality was cannabidiol (CBD)-rich sublingual extract treatment administered for 10 months. Following another washout period, the second modality, Δ⁹-tetrahydrocannabinol (THC)-rich smoked inflorescence (whole dried...

please use this link to access publication Abstract Purpose This study explored whether symptom relief differs by sex in patients with cancer receiving medical cannabis (MC) therapy. Methods This is an analysis of data collected from patients with cancer enrolled in the Quebec Cannabis Registry. MC was initiated for the therapeutic management of cancer symptoms. Patients completed the revised Edmonton Symptom Assessment System (ESAS-r) questionnaire at baseline and 3-month follow-up. We examined the interaction between sex and time on each ESAS-r symptom and the interaction between time and tetrahydrocannabinol:cannabidiol (THC:CBD) ratios for each sex on total symptom burden. Results The analysis included 358 patients...