Latest Article|September 3, 2020|Free
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If you sense that cannabis is greater than the sum of its parts, you’re already well on your way to understanding the so-called entourage effect. Discussion of the entourage effect as it concerns cannabis use centers on the complementary, synergistic nature (and resulting effects) of common volatile organic compounds known as terpenes that work in concert with cannabis plants’ natural phytocannabinoids. Terpenes are a diverse class of organic elements produced by flora, notably conifers and cannabis (as well as some insects), that serve as a protective mechanism for the plants, deterring herbivores with intense scents that also attract predators and parasites of said herbivores. Of the approximately 20,000 terpenes extant on Earth, cannabis plants boast more than 100. Cannabis’ inherent terpenes—including caryophyllene, humulene, limonene, linalool, myrcene, ocimene, pinene, terpinolene—are not unique to cannabis. Cannabis’ whole plant synergistic effects involve those terpenes working in tandem with the phytocannabinoids. Researchers have isolated close to 150 of these organic, bioactive elements—from undisputed phytocannabinoid all-star delta-9-tetrahydrocannabinol (THC) to anti-inflammatory cannabidiol (CBD) and far beyond. As cannabis medication and consumerism makes headway across the globe, so does our collective scientific understanding of phytocannabinoids, terpenes and some of the hows and whys of their interaction inside the mammalian brain. To better visualize how cannabis acts on the human brain, let’s take a cursory look at the endocannabinoid system, which science from the past quarter-century has revealed plays vital roles in the development of the central nervous system, synaptic plasticity (or change that occurs at the junctions between neurons that facilitate neuronal communication) and our response to both endogenous and environmental insults. The endocannabinoid system is made up of cannabinoid receptors, endogenous cannabinoids and the enzymes responsible for synthesis and degradation of the aforementioned endocannabinoids. This system is vital for maintaining homeostasis. Kelvin Rodolfo, Emeritus Professor of the Department of Earth and Environmental Sciences at the University of Illinois at Chicago, defines homeostasis as “how a person under conflicting stresses and motivations can maintain a stable condition.” To wit, a malfunctioning endocannabinoid system has been linked to issues and health conditions involving: appetite and digestion, metabolism, chronic pain, inflammation and other immune system responses, mood, learning and memory, motor control, sleep, cardiovascular system function, muscle formation, bone remodeling and growth, liver and reproductive system function and stress. In reference to endocannabinoids, “endo” refers to natural production in the human body and “cannabinoid” refers to a cannabis-like substance. The British Journal of Pharmacology published a review of our current scientific understanding of the entourage effect in “Taming THC: Potential cannabis synergy and phytocannabinoid-terpenoid entourage effects.” In that review, author and doctor Ethan B. Russo reports that terpenes display “unique therapeutic effects that may contribute meaningfully to the entourage effects of cannabis-based medicinal extracts.” Russo describes terpenes and phytocannabinoids’ pharmacology-based potential for synergistic effects, referencing both CBD and CBG’s inhibition of the staph infection MRSA and theorizing enhanced effectiveness if CBD and CBG were to be combined with pinene, a terpene that also fights off MRSA, as well as terpenes that increase skin permeability. The review also posits the following synergistic interaction: pinene may help counteract memory issues caused by THC; caryophyllene may work in concert with CBD to benefit addiction treatment; limonene and CBD might work together to alleviate anxiety; and THC plus CBN could yield enhanced sedation. Indeed, science is emerging at a consistent rate and pace that furthers our understanding. Earlier in the year 2020, on Jan. 6, Italian scientists published their discovery of a new phytocannabinoid in Scientific Reports. In “A novel phytocannabinoid isolated from Cannabis sativa L. with an in vivo cannabimimetic activity higher than Δ9-tetrahydrocannabinol: Δ9-Tetrahydrocannabiphorol,” researchers describe how their attempts to “define the phytocannabinoids profile that characterizes a medicinal cannabis variety” led to the accidental discovery of the naturally occurring THC homolog Δ9-Tetrahydrocannabiphorol, “a new phytocannabinoid with the same structure of Δ9-THC but with a seven-term alkyl side chain.” As research into the entourage effect gains steam—produced largely by scientific perspiration and motivated by the profitability of commercial and medical cannabis—our collective understanding of individual terpenes and phytocannabinoids as well as their synergistic, collaborative effects may well provide new and innovative physiological and psychological applications for human medicine.