Bath, United Kingdom: Cannabinoids may stimulate healing in the inflamed lining of the gastrointestinal tract, according to clinical trial data published in the August issue of the journal Gatroenterology.
A research team at the University of Bath, Department of Pharmacy and Pharmacology found that human tissues from the gastrointestinal lining of patients with inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) contained large quantities of cannabinoid receptors. Activation of specific receptors promotes healing of the gastrointestinal membrane, and could offer therapeutic relief to patients suffering from inflammatory disorders such as Crohn’s disease and ulcerative colitis, authors found.
The study’s findings are “the first [clinical] evidence that very selective cannabis-derived treatments may be useful as future therapeutic strategies in the treatment” of inflammatory bowel disease, said lead author Karen Wright.
A previous 2003 review published in the journal Expert Opinion in Investigative Drugs noted that the human digestive tract contains various endogenous cannabinoids (marijuana-like compounds produced naturally by the body) and cannabinoid receptors, and theorized that cannabinoids may one day “provide new therapeutics for the treatment of a number of gastrointestinal diseases,” including gastric ulcers, irritable bowel syndrome, Crohn’s disease, and gastroesophageal reflux disease.
For more information, please contact Paul Armentano, NORML Senior Policy Analyst, at (202) 483-5500. Full text of the study, “Differential expression of cannabinoid receptors in the human colon: cannabinoids promote epithelial wound healing,” is available in the August issue of the journal Gastroenterology.