Paliatívna medicína a liečba bolesti 2/2011

Cannabinoids – characteristics, classification, mechanism of action

Cannabis has been utilised for centuries throughout the world to alleviate symptoms of many diseases. Marihuana is known to contain more than 460 compounds, of which more than 60 have the 21-carbon structure typical of canabinoids, which bind to cannabinoid receptors (1). They are known as endocannabinoids, phytocannabinoids and synthetic canabinoids. The discovery of cannabinoid receptors, their endogenous ligands, and the machinery for the synthesis, transport, and degradation of these retrograde messengers, has equipped us with neurochemical tools for novel drug design (2). Agonist-activated cannabinoid receptors, modulate nociceptive thresholds, inhibit release of pro-inflammatory molecules, and display synergistic effects with other systems that influence analgesia, especially the endogenous opioid system. Summary of the so far knowledge of cannabinoids’ effects and their potential medicinal use makes a rather long screed defining them as molecules showing board spectrum of activities.

Keywords: cannabinoids, tetrahydrocannabinol, THC, cannabinoid receptors, anandamid.