Phytocannabinoids beyond the Cannabis plant - do they exist?

Gertsch, Jürg; Pertwee, Roger G; Di Marzo, Vincenzo (2010). Phytocannabinoids beyond the Cannabis plant - do they exist? British journal of pharmacology, 160(3), pp. 523-9. Oxford: Wiley-Blackwell 10.1111/j.1476-5381.2010.00745.x

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It is intriguing that during human cultural evolution man has detected plant natural products that appear to target key protein receptors of important physiological systems rather selectively. Plants containing such secondary metabolites usually belong to unique chemotaxa, induce potent pharmacological effects and have typically been used for recreational and medicinal purposes or as poisons. Cannabis sativa L. has a long history as a medicinal plant and was fundamental in the discovery of the endocannabinoid system. The major psychoactive Cannabis constituent Delta(9)-tetrahydrocannabinol (Delta(9)-THC) potently activates the G-protein-coupled cannabinoid receptor CB(1) and also modulates the cannabinoid receptor CB(2). In the last few years, several other non-cannabinoid plant constituents have been reported to bind to and functionally interact with CB receptors. Moreover, certain plant natural products, from both Cannabis and other plants, also target other proteins of the endocannabinoid system, such as hydrolytic enzymes that control endocannabinoid levels. In this commentary we summarize and critically discuss recent findings.

Item Type:	Journal Article (Further Contribution)
Division/Institute:	04 Faculty of Medicine > Pre-clinic Human Medicine > Institute of Biochemistry and Molecular Medicine
UniBE Contributor:	Gertsch, Jürg
ISSN:	0007-1188
Publisher:	Wiley-Blackwell
Language:	English
Submitter:	Factscience Import
Date Deposited:	04 Oct 2013 14:12
Last Modified:	05 Dec 2022 14:01
Publisher DOI:	10.1111/j.1476-5381.2010.00745.x
PubMed ID:	20590562
Web of Science ID:	000277914700009
URI:	https://boris.unibe.ch/id/eprint/2435 (FactScience: 204934)