Endocannabinoid system
conceptual parameters, history and therapeutic possibilities
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.31686/ijier.vol8.iss9.2642Keywords:
Cannabis sativa, Endocannabinoid system, Therapeutic possibilitiesAbstract
Among the drugs considered illicit in the West, the Cannabis sativa plant is the most consumed: around 4% of the adult population, 10% of these users are in a situation of dependence. However, the medicinal use of this herb dates back to the early days of the emergence of our own species: some anthropologists theorize that some of the genus Homo has progressed in the struggle for survival with other hominids precisely because of the advanced knowledge – kept to the proper proportions – it possessed of plants like Cannabis. Millennia later, science – even focusing intensely on the chemical characterization of its more than 530 bioactive components – was still not able to generate verifiable hypotheses in order to explain two of the most remarkable characteristics of the recreational use of this plant: because small chemical changes potentiated the effect of the drug up to 100 times and, mainly, because it would be virtually impossible for an individual to suffer a lethal overdose of the substance. To overcome this paradigm, some compounds derived from delta-ninetetrahydrocannabinol (Δ9-THC) - the main component of cannabis – were radioactively marked in an experimental study and, after their induction, it was discovered that they had tropism by brain membranes and that their binding was saturated and stereosleptic. Such evidence strongly suggested the existence of endogenous receptors for the drug and it was these findings that led to the discovery of the Endocanabinoid System (SEC): a physiological apparatus made up of endogenous receptors and binders, philogenetically conserved, responsible for several controls related to neuronal homeostasis.
Downloads
Metrics
References
Ameri A. The effects of cannabinoids on the brain. Prog Neurobiol. 1999;58(4):315-48.
Bonfa L, Vinagre RC, de Figueiredo NV. Cannabinoids in chronic pain and palliative care. Rev Bras Anestesiol, 2008;58(3):267-79. English, Portuguese.
Cooper ZD, Haney M. Cannabis reinforcement and dependence: role of the cannabinoid CB1 receptor. Addict Biol. 2008;13(2):188-95.
Dennis M, Babor TF, Roebuck MC, Donaldson J. Changing the focus: the case for recognizing and treating Cannabis use disorders. Addiction. 2002;97(Suppl 1):4-15.
Di Marzo V, Bisogno T, De Petrocellis L. Endocannabinoids: new targets for drug development. Curr Pharm Des. 2000;6(13):1361-80.
Fattore L, Fadda P, Spano MS, Pistis M, Fratta W. Neurobiological mechanisms of cannabinoid addiction. Mol Cell Endocrinol. 2008;286(1-2 Suppl 1):S97-107.
Hazekamp A. Medicinal use of Cannabis: a review. Leiden, The Netherlands: Leiden University, Department of Plant Metabolomics; 2008.
Pacher P, Bátkai S, Kunos G. The endocannabinoid system as an emerging target of pharmacotherapy. Pharmacol Rev. 2006;58(3):389-462.
Vandrey R, Haney M. Pharmacotherapy for Cannabis dependence: how close are we? CNS Drugs. 2009;23(7):543-53.
Zuardi AW. History of Cannabis as a medicine: a review. Rev Bras Psiquiatr. 2006; 28(2):153-7.
Downloads
Published
How to Cite
Issue
Section
License
Copyright (c) 2020 Luis Henrique Almeida Castro, Geanlucas Mendes Monteiro, Ygor Thiago Cerqueira de Paula, Vanessa de Souza Ferraz, Flavia Soares Bezerra Okumoto Nery de Mello, Dayane Aparecida Moisés Caetano Bottini, Nelson Thiago Andrade Ferreira, Tayla Borges Lino, Juliana Vicente de Souza, Gildiney Penaves de Alencar, Wesley Sebastião da Silva Moraes, Fernanda Viana de Carvalho Moreto
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.
Submission of an article implies that the work described has not been published previously (except in the form of an abstract or as part of a published lecture or academic thesis), that it is not under consideration for publication elsewhere, that its publication is approved by all authors and tacitly or explicitly by the responsible authorities where the work was carried out, and that, if accepted, will not be published elsewhere in the same form, in English or in any other language, without the written consent of the Publisher. The Editors reserve the right to edit or otherwise alter all contributions, but authors will receive proofs for approval before publication.
Copyrights for articles published in IJIER journals are retained by the authors, with first publication rights granted to the journal. The journal/publisher is not responsible for subsequent uses of the work. It is the author's responsibility to bring an infringement action if so desired by the author.
Accepted 2020-08-28
Published 2020-09-01
