Plants endocannabinoid receptors

Marijuana and hashish are derivatives of the cannabis sativa plant 919 Cannabinoid effects in the CNS are mediated by the CB1 receptor 919 Endocannabinoids are endogenous ligands for the CB1 receptor 919 Endocannabinoids serve as retrograde messengers 920 There are many similarities between endogenous opioid and cannabinoid systems 921... 

Marijuana and hashish are derivatives of the cannabis sativa plant. Although cannabinoids have been used for centuries for recreational and therapeutic purposes, dramatic advances in cannabinoid neurobiology have occurred since 1990 [34-37]. This is attributable to the cloning of cannabinoid receptors and the discovery of endogenous cannabinoids, termed endocannabinoids. 

THE BRAIN S OWN MARIJUANA-LIKE NEUROTRANSMITTER The very high potency and structure of the cannabinoids contained within the marijuana plant enable them to cross the blood—brain barrier and bind to a receptor for the brain s very own endogenous cannabinoid neurotransmitter system. If this were not true, then the marijuana plant would be popular only for its use in making rope, paper, and cloth. The two currently identified neurotransmitters compounds (and there are probably more) in this system are anandamide, from the Sanskrit word amnia () meaning bliss, and 2-AG (2-arachidonoyl-glycerol). Unlike the other neurotransmitters that I ve discussed, these two endocannabinoids are not stored in synaptic vesicles. 

Fig. 1. Representative structures ofthe different cannabinoid receptor ligand classes the plant cannabinoid, A -tetrahydrocannabinol the endocannabinoid, arachidonoyl ethanolamide (anandamide) the synthetic pyrazole inverse agonist AM281 and the potent aminoalkylindole agonist AM2233. Both AM281 and AM2233 contain an iodine atom that has been labeled with radioiodine for in vitro and in vivo binding experiments...

Endocannabinoids might act as epigenetic factors, through the activation of cannabinoid receptors which emerge early in development. As to plant-derived cannabinoids, by mimicking the effects of natural ligands of cannabinoid receptors these would interfere with the sequence of events that results in the expression of several genes involved in brain development and, in this way, modify the maturation of several neurotransmitter systems (Ferndndez-Ruiz et al. 1992,1994,1996, 1999,2000). 

De Petrocellis L, Di Marzo V (2010) Nrai-CBl, non-CB2 receptors for endocannabinoids, plant cannabinoids, and synthetic caimabimimetics focus on G-protein-coupled receptors and transient receptor potential channels. J Neuroimmun Pharmacol 5 103... 

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