Marijuana component has anti-arthritic effect in mice, arc research reveals
Scientists at the arc's Kennedy Institute in west London have shown that cannabidiol - a natural constituent of marijuana that has no mind-altering effects in its purified form - can ease the effects of collagen-induced arthritis in mice; a disease which resembles human rheumatoid arthritis.
A research team led by Profesor Marc Feldmann report in the leading US journal, the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, that cannabidiol administered to mice with collagen-induced arthritis effectively blocked the progression of disease through a combination of immunosuppressive and anti-inflammatory actions.
Cannabidiol was just as effective when given orally as when it was injected into the body, making it an attractive option for the treatment of rheumatoid arthritis in humans.
Professor Feldmann believes that cannabidiol could at some point become the basis for a cheap anti-arthritis pill. The next stage in the development of cannabidiol as a treatment for patients with rheumatoid arthritis would be a small-scale clinical trial - on people.
Marijuana, which contains about 80 constituents called cannabidiol, has a long history of medicinal use, primarily in the control of pain, nausea and convulsions. Many studies indicate that tetrahydrocannabidiol, or THC, widely known as the psychologically active component of the drug, is also an important regulator of the immune system, and as such may play a role in the treatment of chronic inflammatory disease.
Professor Feldmann's research showing that the less controversial cannabidiol may have similar immmune-modulating properties may mean another potential use for marijuana-derived drugs. A government-sponsored clinical trial of marijuana on patients with MS is currently underway.
