Post by Admin on Feb 12, 2019 0:35:58 GMT
Changes of endocannabinoid plasma levels following type I trauma- A prospective pilot study
1.1 History of endocannabinoid research
Cannabis sativa, being botanically a member of the hemp family, has been cultivated for more
than 5000 years both to obtain fibers for manufacturing of textiles and to provide a variety of
extracts for medicinal and recreational use. Its stimluating and healing effects for conditions
with fever, malaria, obstipation and rheumatic complaints are reported in ancient Chinese and
ancient Arabic scripts (Hauer 2008). Since 300 A.D. it was observed that Cannabis can
stimulate hunger and increase appetite. The psychomimetic activity of overdoses was
described by the Chinese as “seeing the devil”, while the psychic activity was interpreted as a
gift of god and the plant was considered holy in the Indo-European culture (Hiley et al. 2004).
Cannabinoid research was largely neglected at the beginning of the 20th century, partly
because of the political antimarijuana attitude, which officially started in the United States
with the Harrison Act in 1914, leading to full prohibition 20 years later. From the past to the
present, marijuana and other psychoactive derivatives of Cannabis sativa represent the most
widely illegal drug consumed in the Western world. However, despite the social problems
related to the abuse of these substances, scientific and social communities have recently
started to get again aware of the therapeutic potentials of cannabinoids and of new synthetic
compounds interfering with the endogenous cannabinoid system (Cota et al. 2003). In 1964
Tetrahydrocannabinol (THC), the active ingredient of the cannabis plant and of marijuana,
could be identified, but only at the beginning of the 1990s the receptor system was found, via
which cannabis acts. Thus it also became possible to identify the endogenous ligands of this
receptor system as well as to explore the endogenous system. These cannabinoids, which are
built by the body itself, were named “endocannabinoids”. The first identified
endocannabinoid arachidonylethanolamide was isolated from porcine brain in 1992 (Devane
et al. 1992) and labelled “anandamide”. This name was derived from the Sanskrit term
“ananda”, which means internal bliss (Cota et al. 2003). Up to the present besides several
synthetic cannabinoids and natural derivatives of the hemp plant also some other endogenous
ligands were described, from which 2-arachidonoylglycerol is the most known and so far
most explored endocannabinoid. The importance of this system is also underlined by the
finding of a high degree of evolutionary conservation across species, emphasizing the
fundamental physiological role played by cannabinoids in brain function (De Petrocellis et al.
1999).
Source: edoc.ub.uni-muenchen.de/15106/1/Heimendahl_Jenny_von.pdf
1.1 History of endocannabinoid research
Cannabis sativa, being botanically a member of the hemp family, has been cultivated for more
than 5000 years both to obtain fibers for manufacturing of textiles and to provide a variety of
extracts for medicinal and recreational use. Its stimluating and healing effects for conditions
with fever, malaria, obstipation and rheumatic complaints are reported in ancient Chinese and
ancient Arabic scripts (Hauer 2008). Since 300 A.D. it was observed that Cannabis can
stimulate hunger and increase appetite. The psychomimetic activity of overdoses was
described by the Chinese as “seeing the devil”, while the psychic activity was interpreted as a
gift of god and the plant was considered holy in the Indo-European culture (Hiley et al. 2004).
Cannabinoid research was largely neglected at the beginning of the 20th century, partly
because of the political antimarijuana attitude, which officially started in the United States
with the Harrison Act in 1914, leading to full prohibition 20 years later. From the past to the
present, marijuana and other psychoactive derivatives of Cannabis sativa represent the most
widely illegal drug consumed in the Western world. However, despite the social problems
related to the abuse of these substances, scientific and social communities have recently
started to get again aware of the therapeutic potentials of cannabinoids and of new synthetic
compounds interfering with the endogenous cannabinoid system (Cota et al. 2003). In 1964
Tetrahydrocannabinol (THC), the active ingredient of the cannabis plant and of marijuana,
could be identified, but only at the beginning of the 1990s the receptor system was found, via
which cannabis acts. Thus it also became possible to identify the endogenous ligands of this
receptor system as well as to explore the endogenous system. These cannabinoids, which are
built by the body itself, were named “endocannabinoids”. The first identified
endocannabinoid arachidonylethanolamide was isolated from porcine brain in 1992 (Devane
et al. 1992) and labelled “anandamide”. This name was derived from the Sanskrit term
“ananda”, which means internal bliss (Cota et al. 2003). Up to the present besides several
synthetic cannabinoids and natural derivatives of the hemp plant also some other endogenous
ligands were described, from which 2-arachidonoylglycerol is the most known and so far
most explored endocannabinoid. The importance of this system is also underlined by the
finding of a high degree of evolutionary conservation across species, emphasizing the
fundamental physiological role played by cannabinoids in brain function (De Petrocellis et al.
1999).
Source: edoc.ub.uni-muenchen.de/15106/1/Heimendahl_Jenny_von.pdf