Biological activity of tetrahydrocannabinol

In the first chapter, Flemming et al. review the chemistry, biosynthesis, metabolism and biological activities of tetrahydrocannabinol and its derivatives. 

Y. Synthesis and biological activity of five tetrahydrocannabinol metabolites. J Am Chem Soc 94 7930-7931,1972. 

Studies on the effect of solubilizer concentration on the biological activity of propanidid [225] and tetrahydrocannabinol [226] have been published and are discussed at length in Chapter 7. 

Tetrahydrocannabinol (THC, also known as dronabinol) is the main biologically active component in the Cannabis plant extracted from the resin of Cannabis sativa (marihuana, hashish). 

Despite years of study, not until 1964 was the principal psychoactive agent in cannabis isolated. This substance has been labeled delta-9-tetrahydrocannabinol but is more commonly known as A-9-THC, or simply THC. The THC compound w as first reported by Gaoni and Mechoulam (1964), two researchers w orking in Israel. Research since 1964 has shown that the A-9-THC cannabinoid accounts for the vast majority of the known specific pharmacological actions of marijuana. Although THC is the prime psychoactive agent in cannabis, other cannabinoids, such as cannabidiol and cannabinol, can be biologically active and can modify THC effects. However, they tend not to be psychoactive in and of themselves. 

Delta-9-Tetrahydrocannabinol (Delta-9-THC) and, to a small extent, also Delta-8-THC are the biologically active constituents in extracts of the plant Cannabis sativa (marihuana, hashish) and are responsible for the effects on the human central nervous system (CNS). Potential historical and contemporary therapeutic uses of cannahis preparations include, interalia, analgesia, emesis, anorexia, glaucoma and motor disorders. 

Amides are essential to biochemistry amide groups link the amino acid subunits that make up the biopolymers called proteins (Chapter 26). Many simpler amides possess varied forms of biological activity. For example, anandamide (after the Sanskrit word ananda, bliss), the amide of arachidonic acid (Section 19-13) with 2-aminoethanol, has been found to bind to the same receptor in the brain as does tetrahydrocannabinol (Section 9-11), the active ingredient in marijuana. The release and binding of anandamide is the mechanism by which the body suppresses the perception of pain (Problem 47 of Chapter 16). Anandamide has been isolated from chocolate, suggesting that people who claim to be addicted to chocolate may really know what they are talking about. 

The chemical structure of A -tetrahydrocannabinol, determined by Gaoni and Mechoulam in 1964, is illustrated in Figure 6.3. Unlike many other biologically active chemicals of plant origin, A -tetrahydrocannabinol is a highly hydrophobic molecule, a property that has hindered the progress on its mode of action for nearly three decades. Indeed, not only was A -tetrahydrocannabinol more difficult to handle experimentally than such hydrophylic alkaloids as cocaine or morphine, but also its preference for lipid... 

Marijuana has bear used as a traditional medicine and a pleasure-inducing drug for thousands of years. The mqor pharmacologically active constituent of marijuana is A -tetrahydrocannabinol (A -THC). The administration of A -THC to experimental animals and humans ehdts a variety of biological responses in various tissues and organs, particularly in the central nervous system. For example, A -THC induces reduced spontaneous motor activity, immobility, analgesia, impairment of short-term memory, and hypothermia in experimental animals and altered perception, euphoria, and hallucination in humans (Dewey, 1986). The mechanisms of these actions of A -THC ranained elusive until recently. 

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