Bryan William Brickner
  • Blog
  • Interviews
  • Articles
  • Books
  • Photos and Video
  • Links

Indiscernible Cannabinoid Science ~ Publius’ January 2014 Roundup

1/30/2014

0 Comments

 
Picture
The Cannabis Papers: A citizen’s guide to cannabinoids (2011)
by Publius

Here are a few recent 2013-14 findings on how cannabinoids modulate homeostasis and other systems in our bodies: the roundup links to seven recent PubMed articles on the central nervous, reproductive, neuromodulatory, limbic and opioid systems.

I. Nervous System (Alzheimer’s/Dementia) and CS
“The results confirm the constitutive role of the CB2 receptor system both in reducing amyloid plaque pathology in AD [Alzheimer’s disease] and also support the potential of cannabinoid therapies targeting CB2 to reduce Aβ; however, the results suggest that interventions may have a divergent effect on tau pathology.”

CB2 Receptor Deficiency Increases Amyloid Pathology and Alters Tau Processing in a Transgenic Mouse Model of Alzheimer's Disease.
  Koppel J, Vingtdeux V, Marambaud P, D'abramo C, Jimenez H, Stauber M, Friedman R, Davies P.
  Mol Med. 2013 Nov 8;19:357-64. doi: 10.2119/molmed.2013.00140.
  PMID: 24408112 [PubMed - in process] Free PMC Article

II. Reproductive System (Male) and CS
“Together with their receptors and metabolic enzymes, they form the "endocannabinoid system" (ECS). In male reproductive tracts, they affect Sertoli cell activities, Leydig cell proliferation, germ cell differentiation, sperm motility, capacitation, and acrosome reaction.”

The Endocannabinoid System and Spermatogenesis.
  Grimaldi P, Di Giacomo D, Geremia R.
  Front Endocrinol (Lausanne). 2013 Dec 16;4:192. eCollection 2013. Review.
  PMID: 24379805 [PubMed - as supplied by publisher] Free PMC Article

III. Neuromodulatory System and CS
“Emerging findings suggest the existence of a cross-talk between hypocretinergic and endocannabinoid systems. Although few studies have examined this relationship, the apparent overlap observed in the neuroanatomical distribution of both systems as well as their putative functions strongly point to the existence of such cross-modulation.”

Cannabinoid-hypocretin cross-talk in the central nervous system : what we know so far.
  Flores A, Maldonado R, Berrendero F.
  Front Neurosci. 2013 Dec 20;7:256. eCollection 2013. Review.
  PMID: 24391536 [PubMed - as supplied by publisher] Free PMC Article

IV. Limbic System (Emotions) and CS
"Based on the evidence reviewed here, we propose that the endocannabinoid system is an emotional buffer that moderates the effects of environmental context and stress on cognitive processes."

The endocannabinoid system: An emotional buffer in the modulation of memory function.
  Morena M, Campolongo P.
  Neurobiol Learn Mem. 2013 Dec 29. pii: S1074-7427(13)00266-9. doi: 10.1016/j.nlm.2013.12.010. [Epub ahead of print]
  PMID: 24382324 [PubMed - as supplied by publisher]

V. Central Nervous System (Nicotine/Acetylcholine) and CS
“Furthermore, it seems that there is a functional interaction between the BLA cannabinoid receptors and nicotine in producing the rewarding effects.”

Basolateral amygdala CB1cannabinoid receptors mediate nicotine-induced place preference.
  Hashemizadeh S, Sardari M, Rezayof A.
  Prog Neuropsychopharmacol Biol Psychiatry. 2014 Jan 24. pii: S0278-5846(14)00011-6. doi: 10.1016/j.pnpbp.2014.01.010. [Epub ahead of print]
  PMID: 24468643 [PubMed - as supplied by publisher]

VI. Homeostasis and the CS
“The endocannabinoid system is present in stress-responsive neural circuits and it is emerging as a homeostatic system.”

Regulatory role of the Cannabinoid-2  receptor in stress-induced neuroinflammation in mice.
  Zoppi S, Madrigal JL, Caso JR, García-Gutiérrez MS, Manzanares J, Leza JC, García-Bueno B.
  Br J Pharmacol. 2014 Jan 28. doi: 10.1111/bph.12607. [Epub ahead of print]
  PMID: 24467609 [PubMed - as supplied by publisher]

VII. Opioid System and CS
“These results enhance our understanding of the mechanisms involved in the peripheral effect of crotalphine an antinociceptive peptide, as well as the interaction between the opioid and cannabinoid systems.”

Peripheral interactions between cannabinoid and opioid systems contribute to the antinociceptive effect of crotalphine.
  Machado FC, Zambelli VO, Fernandes AC, Heimann AS, Cury Y, Picolo G.
  Br J Pharmacol. 2014 Feb;171(4):961-72. doi: 10.1111/bph.12488.
  PMID: 24460677 [PubMed - in process]

~
Bryan w. Brickner


0 Comments

Represent the Women of We the People

1/28/2014

0 Comments

 
Picture
*This post continues a theme from January 2013: the under-representation of women in the US House. It’s an updated excerpt from the introduction of my 2006 book, Article the first of the Bill of Rights: Constitutional representation – the forgotten story of We the People. The main update: in 2006 the US House was 16% women – today it’s 18%.

The founders approach to government was scientific. They had many ideas about how to build a new government, but they also had a lot of doubt. This led to debates on how to proceed, as revolutions are never clear.

The founders attempted to build a system that would protect such rights as the (now) famous, “Life, Liberty, and the Pursuit of Happiness.” They also knew, when talking of citizens and representation, that there was no monopoly on how to define those three rights. Freedom is a deep well; it has also been aptly referred to as an abyss. Our revolutionaries certainly knew the abyss. Thirteen colonies do not revolt against their King and fight an eight-year civil war and not come to know the abyss. Those subjects-turned radical revolutionaries who took up arms against their law and the King of England, they had firsthand knowledge of how deep the well of human freedom ran – they lived it and then left us a blueprint: the US Constitution.

The first time I considered constitutional representation a political issue, rather than a historical one, was in graduate school at Purdue University. Before that, when I taught high school US history classes, I recall discussing the representation ratio but dismissing it; frankly, it seemed old.

Then, as a political science graduate student, I was assistanting a professor who was lecturing on the US Constitution, The Federalist Papers, and James Madison. At one point, the third clause in Article I, Section 2 entered the lecture. After class we discussed the size of a constitutional House, one based on the constitutional ratio of “one for every thirty Thousand.” The House would be huge, we agreed, but mostly we thought it impractical.

That was nearly twenty years ago. Since then I began to think of the representation ratio in constitutional, and not congressional, terms. If we were to build a new Congress based on the constitutional ratio of one for every thirty Thousand, we would have a House of Representatives of 10,000 members. This would bring dozens of groups (factions) into the constitutional process and fundamentally change Congress. For example, women won the right to suffrage with the Nineteenth Amendment (1920), but have never received their right to representation according to their numbers. Women are more than 50 percent of We the People, and yet they are represented in the current House, our 113th, with 79 Representatives, or 18 percent of the representation; that is a 32 percent under-representation of women as a group. Such under-representations of We the People create profound political, and constitutional, consequences.

Bryan W. Brickner

0 Comments

Cancer and One’s Cannabinoid System ~ Publius’ January Awareness

1/26/2014

0 Comments

 
Picture
The Cannabis Papers: A citizen’s guide to cannabinoids (2011)
By Publius

Cervical cancer awareness and one’s cannabinoid system are the focus of this month’s health update from Publius of The Cannabis Papers: A citizen’s guide to cannabinoids (2011). January's highlighted message is the ability of one’s cannabinoid system, using the endocannabinoid anandamide, to induce apoptosis ~ programmed cancer cell death.

2004
The endocannabinoid Anandamide (arachidonyl ethanolamide) inducing apoptosis of uterine cervix cancer cells via another type of receptor ~ the vanilloid receptor-1.


Arachidonyl ethanolamide [Anandamide] induces apoptosis of uterine cervix cancer cells via aberrantly expressed vanilloid receptor-1.
Contassot E, Tenan M, Schnüriger V, Pelte MF, Dietrich PY.
Gynecol Oncol. 2004 Apr;93(1):182-8.
 

2009
The stable analogue of the endocannabinoid Anandamide, R(+)-methanandamide, inducing apoptosis in human cervical carcinoma cells.


R(+)-methanandamide-induced apoptosis of human cervical carcinoma cells involves a cyclooxygenase-2-dependent pathway.
Eichele K, Ramer R, Hinz B.
Pharm Res. 2009 Feb;26(2):346-55. doi: 10.1007/s11095-008-9748-3. Epub 2008 Oct 28.


2012
The ability of the endocannabinoid Anandamide to induce apoptosis is enhanced by blocking fatty acid amide hydrolase (FAAH).


Arachidonoyl ethanolamide [Anandamide] (AEA)-induced apoptosis is mediated by J-series prostaglandins and is enhanced by fatty acid amide hydrolase (FAAH) blockade.
Kuc C, Jenkins A, Van Dross RT.
Mol Carcinog. 2012 Feb;51(2):139-49. doi: 10.1002/mc.20770. Epub 2011 Mar 22.


2013
The cannabinoid system and omega-3/6 endocannabinoids noted for their anticancer modulation.


Cannabinoids and omega-3/6 endocannabinoids as cell death and anticancer modulators.
Brown I, Cascio MG, Rotondo D, Pertwee RG, Heys SD, Wahle KW.
Prog Lipid Res. 2013 Jan;52(1):80-109. doi: 10.1016/j.plipres.2012.10.001. Epub 2012 Oct 26.


2013
The cannabinoid system and cannabidiol inhibiting colon carcinogenesis.


Inhibition of colon carcinogenesis by a standardized Cannabis sativa extract with high content of cannabidiol.
Romano B, Borrelli F, Pagano E, Cascio MG, Pertwee RG, Izzo AA.
Phytomedicine. 2013 Dec 24. pii: S0944-7113(13)00472-8. doi: 10.1016/j.phymed.2013.11.006. [Epub ahead of print]

Posted by Bryan W. Brickner

0 Comments

Amar’s Absent Shall in America’s Constitution

1/6/2014

0 Comments

 
Picture
Biblically, shall is an imperative: thou shall honor thy parents, for example. Legally, shall is also an imperative, as it conveys obligation.

The absent “shall” from Akhil Reed Amar’s book, America’s Constitution: A biography (hardcover, 2005), is not on page 76. Under the rubric “The Number of Representatives,” Amar’s text leads the reader to a falsehood; when discussing the Constitution’s representation ratio (Article I, Section 2, Clause 3), the key legal word – shall – is absent. Here is Amar’s sentence:

“Although Article I provided that the House should not ‘exceed’ one representative per thirty thousand constituents, its only minimal mandate was that each state have at least one member.”(page 76)

In Amar’s book (where shall is rendered as should), he argues that the US Constitution has no maximum and only a minimum regarding the representation of We the People in Congress; by comparison, here is what Amar is referencing – Article I and its two shalls (in bold) – the first one setting a maximum, the second a minimum for constitutional representation:

“The Number of Representatives shall not exceed one for every thirty Thousand, but each State shall have at Least one Representative.” (USC Article I, Section 2, Clause 3)

Interesting political theory moment: Amar’s absent shall is a reverse deconstruction – surprisingly, it’s post-modern, like the theories of Jacques Derrida and Jean Baudrillard, though in reverse. Instead of the usual lineup – a presence masking a basic absence – Amar’s absent “shall” is masking a basic reality: the presence of a constitutional mandate for representing We the People at the ratio of one for every thirty Thousand.

There happens to be lots of post-modern moments in Amar’s Constitution, so let’s bring James Madison, John Jay and Alexander Hamilton into the discussion next time. Amar notes the three founders (the book is over 600 pages), though he doesn’t on page 76 as required of a dissertation; instead, Amar quotes a dissenter, Patrick Henry, a founder who refused to attend the 1787 convention, and not a founder who was present in Philadelphia – like Madison, Jay or Hamilton. So we’ll do that next time – as we look to the founders and compare Amar’s theories to those in The Federalist Papers.

Bryan W. Brickner

0 Comments

    Author

    Brickner has a 1997 political science doctorate from Purdue University, cofounded Illinois NORML in 2001, and was a 2007 National NORML Cannabis Advocate Awardee. He is also publisher and coauthor of the 2011 book banned by the Illinois Department of Corrections – The Cannabis Papers: A Citizen’s Guide to Cannabinoids.

    Archives

    November 2019
    October 2019
    September 2019
    July 2019
    June 2019
    May 2019
    April 2019
    March 2019
    February 2019
    January 2019
    December 2018
    November 2018
    October 2018
    September 2018
    August 2018
    July 2018
    June 2018
    April 2018
    March 2018
    February 2018
    December 2017
    November 2017
    October 2017
    September 2017
    August 2017
    July 2017
    June 2017
    May 2017
    April 2017
    March 2017
    February 2017
    January 2017
    December 2016
    November 2016
    October 2016
    September 2016
    August 2016
    July 2016
    June 2016
    May 2016
    April 2016
    March 2016
    February 2016
    January 2016
    December 2015
    November 2015
    October 2015
    September 2015
    August 2015
    June 2015
    May 2015
    April 2015
    March 2015
    February 2015
    January 2015
    December 2014
    November 2014
    October 2014
    September 2014
    August 2014
    July 2014
    June 2014
    May 2014
    April 2014
    March 2014
    February 2014
    January 2014
    December 2013
    November 2013
    October 2013
    September 2013
    July 2013
    June 2013
    April 2013
    January 2013
    October 2012

    Categories

    All
    17 September
    22nd Amendment
    2 AG
    2-AG
    435
    502nd Infantry
    5 HT
    5-HT
    5-HT
    5 HTP
    5-HTP
    7th Amendment
    9 April 1792
    Aborigine
    A Cabal
    Acetylcholine
    Adam Smith
    Aesop
    Aging
    Akhil Reed Amar
    Albert Hoffman
    Alcohol
    Alexander Hamilton
    Alexander R. Boteler
    Alice In Wonderland
    Alzheimer's/Dementia
    Ambrose Burnside
    American Revolution
    Anandamide
    Andrew Leitch
    Antietam/Sharpsburg
    Anti Republic
    Anti-Republic
    Anti-Semitism
    Archie Lieberman
    Art
    Artemis
    Article The First
    Aspasia Of Miletus
    Athena
    Augustus Kotka
    Bastogne
    Benjamin F. Cheatham
    Benjamin Franklin
    Bivalency
    Black Hawk War 1832
    Brain Gut Axis
    Brain-gut Axis
    Bringing It Home
    Burning Man
    California
    Cancer
    Candide
    Cannabinoids
    Cannabinoid System
    Cannabis
    Carcinogenesis
    Caryophyllene
    Caudate Putamen
    Cb1
    Cb2
    CB2 GPR55 Heteromers
    CB2-GPR55 Heteromers
    CBD
    Cheatham Hill
    Chicago
    Circulatory System
    Cluster Headache
    CNS
    Colitis
    Comrades
    Confederate
    Conservative-Liberal (CL)
    Constitutio Libertatis
    Constitution
    Daimon
    Daniel Morgan
    David Bradford
    David Redick
    Depression
    Despotism
    DHA
    Didaskalos
    Digestive System
    Domestic Tranquility
    Donald Trump
    Dopamine System
    Douglas Southall Freeman
    Dubuque
    Earth Day
    Eisenhower
    Elbridge Gerry
    Electoral College
    Emperor Napoleon
    Endocrine System
    Enumeration
    EPA
    Epilepsy
    Er
    Estrogen
    Exercise
    Ex Falso Quodlibet
    FAKE News
    Federalist 57
    Florida
    Fort Sumter
    Founders
    Francis P. Blair
    Freedom
    Free Markets Cannabis Act (FMCA)
    French Revolution
    GABA
    Gallant Fourteenth
    Georges Danton
    George Thomas
    George Washington
    Georg Groddeck
    Gettysburg
    Gideon
    Gliomas
    Glutamate
    Goddesses
    Government Grown
    Gpr55
    Graham Greene
    Hannah Arendt
    Harlem Heights
    Headache
    Hedonism
    Hemp
    Henry Knox
    Henry Kyd Douglas
    Henry Lee III
    Herbaceutical
    Herbiceutical
    Heteromers
    Hillary Clinton
    Homeostasis
    Horatio Gates
    Hot-flash-reduction
    Hypothalamic-neurohypophyseal
    Ice
    Illinois
    Immigrants
    Immune System
    Indiana
    Indiana 99th Regiment
    Indole-quinuclidine-analogs
    Inflammation
    Irritable Bowel Syndrome Ibs
    It
    Jack-herer
    James Monroe
    James Rumsey
    James W. Foley
    James Wilkinson
    Jean Baudrillard
    Jefferson Davis
    Jesus
    Jim-champion
    Joe
    Johann Palm
    John Adams
    John Bunyan
    John Finley Pettigrew
    John F Kennedy
    John-jay
    John Locke
    John Mosby
    Johnny Reb
    John Roberts
    Jonathan Magbie
    Kaiser Wilhelm
    Keith Marker
    Knowbody
    Kynurenine
    Lil Man
    Liminal
    Lincoln
    Lipids
    Louis Armstrong
    LSS
    Lt
    Lysergic Acid Diethylamide Lsd
    Madison
    March-madness
    Marijuana
    Martin Luther
    Maximilien Robespierre
    Melanocortin Circuit
    'Mericans
    Michigan
    Microbiota
    Migraine
    Mitochondria
    Molly Role
    Monroe Doctrine
    Montesquieu
    Morphine
    Mt-vernon
    Muggles
    Multiple-sclerosis
    Nabiximols-sativex
    Nazis
    Nemesis
    New York
    Nietzsche
    North Carolina
    Nowhere
    Nuclear Receptors
    Obama
    Obesity
    Ohio
    Once Upon A Time
    Opioid
    Otto Snow
    Pain Relief
    Paraquat
    Parmenides
    Parthenongenesis
    Patrick-henry
    Paula Lind Ayers
    Peace Terms
    Pediatric
    Pericles
    Philadelphia
    Phototherapy
    Physiodelia
    Physiology System
    Pituitary-stalk
    Plato
    Pot
    Pregnancy
    President Taylor
    Psilocybin
    PTSD
    Publius
    Puritans
    Putin
    Quakers
    Race
    Ra Chaka
    Ralph Waldo Emerson
    R. Bruce Dold
    Representation
    Reproductive System
    Republic
    Respiratory-system
    Richard Lee I
    Rick Simpson
    Robert Dahl
    Robert E. Lee
    Roman Republic
    Sarah Tonin
    Sarajevo
    Secession
    Serotonin System
    Shall
    Shivitti
    Silent Night
    Skeletal System
    Slavery
    Sleep
    Snake And Turkey
    Socrates
    Sophie Scholl
    Sophocles
    South Carolina
    Sperm
    Spermatogenesis
    Spermatozoa
    Sport
    Star Of David
    Stephen Young
    Suicidal
    Sun Tzu
    Sweat
    Tell Lie Vision
    Tell-Lie-Vision
    Texas
    THC
    The Boys
    The Cannabis Papers
    The Federalist Papers
    The-federalist-papers
    The Few
    The Lost Special Orders #191
    The Many
    The Quiet American (1955)
    The Unrepresented
    Thirty Thousand
    Thirty-thousand
    Thomas-jefferson
    Thomas Knowlton
    Thomas Sumpter (Sumter)
    Three Fifths Representation
    Three-fifths Representation
    Tom Paine
    Tory Crown
    Traumatic Brain Injury
    Trenton
    Truck Drivers
    Tryptophan
    Tsar Nicholas
    Tuscarora / Hemp Gatherers
    US Grant
    Us Supreme Court
    Usurpation
    Usurpecans
    Valkyrie
    Vanilloid-system
    Veritas
    Veterans
    Vietnam
    Virginia
    Visual-system
    Walter-benjamin
    Weed
    West Virginia
    We The People
    We-the-people
    Whiskey Rebellion
    White Rose
    William-abens
    William Findley
    William Washington
    Wine
    Winfield Scott
    Women
    Yale
    Yankee Doodle Dandy
    Zarathustra

    RSS Feed

Powered by Create your own unique website with customizable templates.