Antibacterial Cannabinoids from Cannabis sativa:

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J. Nat. Prod., 71 (8), 1427–1430, 2008. 10.1021/np8002673
Web Release Date: August 6, 2008 Copyright © 2008 American Chemical Society
Antibacterial Cannabinoids from Cannabis sativa: A Structure−Activity Study
Giovanni Appendino,* (http://pubs.acs.org/cgi-bin/sample.cgi/jnprdf/2008/71/i08/html/np8002673.html#cor1)† (http://pubs.acs.org/cgi-bin/sample.cgi/jnprdf/2008/71/i08/html/np8002673.html#afn1)‡ (http://pubs.acs.org/cgi-bin/sample.cgi/jnprdf/2008/71/i08/html/np8002673.html#afn2) Simon Gibbons,* (http://pubs.acs.org/cgi-bin/sample.cgi/jnprdf/2008/71/i08/html/np8002673.html#cor1)⊥ (http://pubs.acs.org/cgi-bin/sample.cgi/jnprdf/2008/71/i08/html/np8002673.html#afn3) Anna Giana,† (http://pubs.acs.org/cgi-bin/sample.cgi/jnprdf/2008/71/i08/html/np8002673.html#afn1)‡ (http://pubs.acs.org/cgi-bin/sample.cgi/jnprdf/2008/71/i08/html/np8002673.html#afn2) Alberto Pagani,† (http://pubs.acs.org/cgi-bin/sample.cgi/jnprdf/2008/71/i08/html/np8002673.html#afn1)‡ (http://pubs.acs.org/cgi-bin/sample.cgi/jnprdf/2008/71/i08/html/np8002673.html#afn2) Gianpaolo Grassi,§ (http://pubs.acs.org/cgi-bin/sample.cgi/jnprdf/2008/71/i08/html/np8002673.html#afn4) Michael Stavri,⊥ (http://pubs.acs.org/cgi-bin/sample.cgi/jnprdf/2008/71/i08/html/np8002673.html#afn3) Eileen Smith,⊥ (http://pubs.acs.org/cgi-bin/sample.cgi/jnprdf/2008/71/i08/html/np8002673.html#afn3) and M. Mukhlesur Rahman⊥ (http://pubs.acs.org/cgi-bin/sample.cgi/jnprdf/2008/71/i08/html/np8002673.html#afn3)
Dipartimento di Scienze Chimiche, Alimentari, Farmaceutiche e Farmacologiche, Università del Piemonte Orientale, Via Bovio 6, 28100 Novara, Italy, Consorzio per lo Studio dei Metaboliti Secondari (CSMS), Viale S. Ignazio 13, 09123 Cagliari, Italy, Centre for Pharmacognosy and Phytotherapy, The School of Pharmacy, University of London, 29-39 Brunswick Square, London WC1N 1AX, U.K., and CRA-CIN Centro di Ricerca per le Colture Industriali, Sede distaccata di Rovigo, Via Amendola 82, 45100 Rovigo, Italy
Received May 1, 2008
Abstract:
Marijuana (Cannabis sativa) has long been known to contain antibacterial cannabinoids, whose potential to address antibiotic resistance has not yet been investigated. All five major cannabinoids (cannabidiol (1b), cannabichromene (2), cannabigerol (3b), Δ9-tetrahydrocannabinol (4b), and cannabinol (5)) showed potent activity against a variety of methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) strains of current clinical relevance. Activity was remarkably tolerant to the nature of the prenyl moiety, to its relative position compared to the n-pentyl moiety (abnormal cannabinoids), and to carboxylation of the resorcinyl moiety (pre-cannabinoids). Conversely, methylation and acetylation of the phenolic hydroxyls, esterification of the carboxylic group of pre-cannabinoids, and introduction of a second prenyl moiety were all detrimental for antibacterial activity. Taken together, these observations suggest that the prenyl moiety of cannabinoids serves mainly as a modulator of lipid affinity for the olivetol core, a per se poorly active antibacterial pharmacophore, while their high potency definitely suggests a specific, but yet elusive, mechanism of activity.

For a complete review of this study please see here:


http://pubs.acs.org/cgi-bin/sample.cgi/jnprdf/2008/71/i08/html/np8002673.html

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How Cannabis Could Save Your Life (http://www.environmentalgraffiti.com/sciencetech/cannibis-save-life/2712)

Tue, Oct 14, 2008
Science/Tech (http://www.environmentalgraffiti.com/category/sciencetech)

http://inlinethumb55.webshots.com/42806/2145861230104164749S600x600Q85.jpg (http://good-times.webshots.com/photo/2145861230104164749etncLh)
Image: United States Fish and Wildlife Service
The list of medical (http://www.environmentalgraffiti.com/sciencetech/cannibis-save-life/2712#) uses for marijuana (Cannabis Sativa) continues to grow. The Journal of Natural Products recently published a paper outlining the newly isolated antibiotic (http://www.environmentalgraffiti.com/sciencetech/cannibis-save-life/2712#) effects of the class of molecules known as cannabanoids. This group includes the non-psychoactive cannabichromene, cannabigerol, and cannabidiol but also includes the well-known and definitely psychotropic tetrahydrocannabinol (THC).
Researchers believe that the powerful antibiotic effects of cannabanoids can be enlisted in the increasingly difficult fight against MRSA (Methicillin-Resistant Staphylococcus Aureus) and other ’superbugs’ that have evolved resistances to most modern antibiotics (http://www.environmentalgraffiti.com/sciencetech/cannibis-save-life/2712#). MRSA is perhaps the best known of these superbugs, often running rampant in hospitals, with estimates of up to 1.2 million hospital patients becoming infected and possibly over 100,000 patients dying each year in the United States due to lack of effective medicines (http://www.environmentalgraffiti.com/sciencetech/cannibis-save-life/2712#) against them. The known effectiveness of cannabanoids and the fact that they have not been used before, and therefore no bacteria has yet developed a resistance to them, could prove to be a very valuable tool in the arms race against these constantly changing bacterial strains.
http://inlinethumb14.webshots.com/32525/2905690170103830173S600x600Q85.jpg
Image: Current Global News (http://www.currentglobalnews.com/NewsDetails.php?ID=2458)
In some ways the notion of cannabis having antibiotic effects is counterintuitive. This is because it has been proven that the act of smoking marijuana actually increases vulnerability to infections (http://www.environmentalgraffiti.com/sciencetech/cannibis-save-life/2712#). This vulnerability however seems to be a result of inhaling marijuana smoke or even smoke in general and likely has little to do with the presence or absence of cannabanoids.
Contrastingly, cannabis sativa itself, when not smoked, has been known since the 1950s to have strong antibacterial properties. However, as the technology of looking into how molecules are structured and how they interact was in its infancy at the time, the researchers were unable to determine which marijuana compounds were actually causing the antibacterial effects. As the social and research climates started to grow increasingly hostile to the investigation of black-listed substances in the US and around the world, antibiotic cannabis studies were soon shelved and ignored until they were finally picked up again fairly recently by modern science.

Please see the entire article here:
http://www.environmentalgraffiti.com/sciencetech/cannibis-save-life/2712

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Nine New Cannabinoids Identified in Cannabis

Discovery Brings Total to Nearly 80

http://www.safeaccessnow.org/img/original/thc.jpg Researchers at the University of Mississippi detected nine new cannabinoids in a cannabis variety with a high dronabinol content. Two of the new cannabinoids display significant antibacterial properties. The new cannabinoids bring to nearly 80 the number of active constituent components in the cannabis plant with potential to bind to the two types of cannabinoid receptors found in humans.

Of the new cannabinoids, two belong to the already-identified cannabichromene type (CBC), two to the cannabinol type (CBN), and one to the cannabigerol type (CBG) of cannabinoids. The two cannabinoids that show significant antibacterial activities include on of the CBN type cannabinoids (8-hydroxycannabinol).

International researchers have been working to identify the specific therapeutic properties and potential of each of the cannabinoids found in the cannabis plant.

for more information see here

http://www.safeaccessnow.org/article.php?id=5730#20