Pharmacodynamics of cannabinoids

How to cite this article: Sulcova A. Pharmacodynamics of cannabinoids. Arch Pharm Pharma Sci. 2019; 3: 011-018. https://doi.org/10.29328/journal.apps.1001013 “Pharmacodynamics of cannabinoids “(i.e. a set of biological effects elicited in the living organism by interaction with its biochemical and biophysical functions up to the cellular level) is studied for a long time during both, physiological and pathological conditions. Cannabinoids received their names according to their natural occurrence as constituents of Cannabis sativa L. (marijuana). The species was classi ied in the “Linnaeus’s Species Plantarum (1753)”, the word “sativa” means things that are cultivated [1]. For ages, people have used cannabis-based preparations for healing and pain suppression until the discovery (in 1897) of aspirin (acetylsalicylic acid) which contemporary medicine uses until today. Chemical investigation of marijuana con irmed various cannabinoid-type components called cannabinoids (presently estimated at about 150). Regarding their possible pharmacodynamic effects, tetrahydrocannabinol (THC) and cannabidiol (CBD) are the most explored. The determination of THC structure by means of nuclear magnetic resonance imaging increased sharply the number of professional scienti ic reports dealing with the studies of THC pharmacodynamic mechanisms of action [2]. Thus, it has been possible to verify THC speci ic binding sites in the vertebrate organisms including humans named “cannabinoid receptors” [3]. Subsequently, discoveries of endogenous cannabinoid receptor ligands were of high signi icance. The irst such N-arachidonoyl-ethanol amide was isolated from the brain of a pig and called anandamide [4]. Subsequently, other endocannabinoids with various stimulatory, i.e. “agonistic” receptor activity were discovered: 2AG (arachidonoyl glycerin ether) [5], NADA (N-arachidonoyl dopamine) [6]. The last endocannabinoid identi ied virodhamine (O-arachidonoyl-ethanolamine), shows on the contrary, an “antagonistic” effect on the irst discovered cannabinoid receptors, now called CB1 receptors [7]. The cannabinoid CB1 receptor was originally discovered in the central nervous system (in the cortex, basal ganglia, hippocampus, hypothalamus, cerebellum, spinal cord, spinal cord ganglia), then also in the enteric nervous system and on cells of fat, endothelial cells, liver, gastrointestinal tract.