Source: Bayareacannabis.orgSource
Laboratory of Physiologic Studies, National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, MD 20892-9413, USA. Pacher@mail.nih.govAbstract
The mammalian body has a highly developed immune system which guards
against continuous invading protein attacks and aims at preventing,
attenuating or repairing the inflicted damage. It is conceivable that
through evolution analogous biological protective systems have been
evolved against non-protein attacks. There is emerging evidence that
lipid endocannabinoid signaling through cannabinoid 2 (CB₂) receptors
may represent an example/part of such a protective system/armamentarium.
Inflammation/tissue injury triggers rapid elevations in local
endocannabinoid levels, which in turn regulate signaling responses in
immune and other cells modulating their critical functions. Changes in
endocannabinoid levels and/or CB₂ receptor expressions have been
reported in almost all diseases affecting humans, ranging from
cardiovascular, gastrointestinal, liver, kidney, neurodegenerative,
psychiatric, bone, skin, autoimmune, lung disorders to pain and cancer,
and modulating CB₂ receptor activity holds tremendous therapeutic
potential in these pathologies. While CB₂ receptor activation in general
mediates immunosuppressive effects, which limit inflammation and
associated tissue injury in large number of pathological conditions, in
some disease states activation of the CB₂ receptor may enhance or even
trigger tissue damage, which will also be discussed alongside the
protective actions of the CB₂ receptor stimulation with endocannabinoids
or synthetic agonists, and the possible biological mechanisms involved
in these effects.
Published by Elsevier Ltd.
- PMID:
- 21295074
- [PubMed - indexed for MEDLINE]
- PMCID: PMC3062638
- [Available on 2012/4/1]
