Initial references regarding the potential use of cannabinoids to protect against the onset of osteoporosis are available in the scientific literature beginning in the early 1990s.[1]  To date, however, no clinical work has taken place investigating the use of cannabis for this indication.

Writing in the January 2006 issue of the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, investigators at the Bone Laboratory of the Hebrew University in Jerusalem reported that the administration of the synthetic cannabinoid agonist HU-308 slowed the development of osteoporosis, stimulated bone building, and reduced bone loss in animals.[2]  Follow up research published in the Annals of the New York Academy of Sciences in 2007 reported that the activation of the CB2 cannabinoid receptor reduced experimentally-induced bone loss and stimulated bone formation.[3] Investigators have previously reported that mice deficient in the CB2 cannabinoid receptor experienced age-accelerated bone loss reminiscent of human osteoporosis.[4]

Though the role of the endocannabinoid system in the regulation of bone mass is not yet well understood,[5] experts are hopeful that cannabinoids and the cannabinoid receptor system may be "A promising target novel target for anti-osteoporotic drug development."[6]

REFERENCES:

[1] Vratislav Schrieber. 1995. Endocrinology 1994-1995. Casopis Lekaru Ceskych (Czech Republic) 134: 535-536.

[2] Ofek et al. 2006. Peripheral cannabinoid receptor, CB2, regulates bone mass. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America 103: 696-701.

[3] Bab Itai. 2007. Regulation of Skeletal Remodeling by the Endocannabinoid System. Annals of the New York Academy of Sciences (E-pub ahead of print).

[4] Ofek et al. 2006. op. cit.

[5] Idris et al. 2005. Regulation of bone mass, bone loss and osteoclast activity by cannabinoid receptors. Nature Medicine 11: 774-779.

[6] Bab Itai. 2007. op. cit.