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Indiscernible Cannabinoid Science ~ Publius’ January 2014 Roundup

1/30/2014

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

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Represent the Women of We the People

1/28/2014

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*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

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

1/26/2014

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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

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Amar’s Absent Shall in America’s Constitution

1/6/2014

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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

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Indiscernible Cannabinoid Science ~ Publius’ January 2014 Roundup

Represent the Women of We the People

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

Amar’s Absent Shall in America’s Constitution

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