Beta-caryophyllene is a dietary cannabinoid

Gertsch, Jürg; Leonti, Marco; Raduner, Stefan; Racz, Ildiko; Chen, Jian-Zhong; Xie, Xiang-Qun; Altmann, Karl-Heinz; Karsak, Meliha; Zimmer, Andreas (2008). Beta-caryophyllene is a dietary cannabinoid. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America - PNAS, 105(26), pp. 9099-104. Washington, D.C.: National Academy of Sciences NAS 10.1073/pnas.0803601105

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The psychoactive cannabinoids from Cannabis sativa L. and the arachidonic acid-derived endocannabinoids are nonselective natural ligands for cannabinoid receptor type 1 (CB(1)) and CB(2) receptors. Although the CB(1) receptor is responsible for the psychomodulatory effects, activation of the CB(2) receptor is a potential therapeutic strategy for the treatment of inflammation, pain, atherosclerosis, and osteoporosis. Here, we report that the widespread plant volatile (E)-beta-caryophyllene [(E)-BCP] selectively binds to the CB(2) receptor (K(i) = 155 +/- 4 nM) and that it is a functional CB(2) agonist. Intriguingly, (E)-BCP is a common constituent of the essential oils of numerous spice and food plants and a major component in Cannabis. Molecular docking simulations have identified a putative binding site of (E)-BCP in the CB(2) receptor, showing ligand pi-pi stacking interactions with residues F117 and W258. Upon binding to the CB(2) receptor, (E)-BCP inhibits adenylate cylcase, leads to intracellular calcium transients and weakly activates the mitogen-activated kinases Erk1/2 and p38 in primary human monocytes. (E)-BCP (500 nM) inhibits lipopolysaccharide (LPS)-induced proinflammatory cytokine expression in peripheral blood and attenuates LPS-stimulated Erk1/2 and JNK1/2 phosphorylation in monocytes. Furthermore, peroral (E)-BCP at 5 mg/kg strongly reduces the carrageenan-induced inflammatory response in wild-type mice but not in mice lacking CB(2) receptors, providing evidence that this natural product exerts cannabimimetic effects in vivo. These results identify (E)-BCP as a functional nonpsychoactive CB(2) receptor ligand in foodstuff and as a macrocyclic antiinflammatory cannabinoid in Cannabis.

Item Type:	Journal Article (Original Article)
Division/Institute:	04 Faculty of Medicine > Pre-clinic Human Medicine > Institute of Biochemistry and Molecular Medicine
UniBE Contributor:	Gertsch, Jürg
ISSN:	0027-8424
ISBN:	18574142
Publisher:	National Academy of Sciences NAS
Language:	English
Submitter:	Factscience Import
Date Deposited:	04 Oct 2013 15:05
Last Modified:	05 Dec 2022 14:20
Publisher DOI:	10.1073/pnas.0803601105
PubMed ID:	18574142
Web of Science ID:	000257354400054
URI:	https://boris.unibe.ch/id/eprint/28319 (FactScience: 120041)