Authors:
Esposito G, Filippis DD, Cirillo C, Iuvone T, Capoccia E, Scuderi C, Steardo A, Cuomo R, Steardo L.
Abstract:
This minireview highlights the importance of cannabidiol (CBD) as a
promising drug for the therapy of inflammatory bowel diseases (IBD).
Actual pharmacological treatments for IBD should be enlarged toward the
search for low-toxicityand low-cost drugs that may be given alone or in
combination with the conventional anti-IBD drugs to increase their
efficacy in the therapy of relapsing forms of colitis. In the past,
Cannabis preparations have been considered new promising pharmacological
tools in view of their anti-inflammatory role in IBD as well as other
gut disturbances. However, their use in the clinical therapy has been
strongly limited by their psychotropic effects. CBD is a very promising
compound since it shares the typical cannabinoid beneficial effects on
gut lacking any psychotropic effects. For years, its activity has been
enigmatic for gastroenterologists and pharmacologists, but now it is
evident that this compound may interact at extra-cannabinoid system
receptor sites, such as peroxisome proliferator-activated
receptor-gamma. This strategic interaction makes CBD as a potential
candidate for the development of a new class of anti-IBD drugs.