humulene and Weight-Gain

The use of cannabis (marijuana) or of its psychoactive ingredient delta-9-tetrahydrocannabinol (THC) as a medicine has been highly contested in many settings.There have been claims that smoked or ingested cannabis, either in its natural form or artificial form (pharmaceutically manufactured drug such as dronabinol), improves the appetites of people with AIDS, results in weight gain and lifts mood, thus improving the quality of life.. The objectives of this review were to assess whether cannabis (in its natural or artificially produced form), either smoked or ingested, decreases the morbidity or mortality of patients infected with HIV.. The search strategy was conducted to July 2012 and was based on that of the Cochrane HIV/AIDS Review Group. We searched the following databases: CENTRAL/CCTR, MEDLINE and EMBASE. In addition, searching was performed where necessary of journals, reference lists of articles, and conference proceedings.. The review included randomised controlled trials (RCTs) of any cannabis intervention, in any form, and administered by any route, in adults with HIV or AIDS, compared with placebo or with a known effective treatment, and conducted in a hospital, outpatient clinic, or home care setting. Quasi-randomised studies using any form of cannabis as an intervention in patients with HIV or AIDS were also included.. Data from the eligible studies were extracted and coded independently by two researchers, using a standardised data extraction form. Data were then analysed using RevMan 5.0. No meta-analyses were performed.. A total of seven relevant studies were included in the review, reported in eight publications. All were randomised controlled studies, with four utilising a parallel group design, two a within-subject randomisation and two a cross-over design. All of the studies were of a fairly short duration, ranging from 21 days to 84 days. In only four papers (in effect, three studies) were sequence generation and allocation concealment judged to be adequate. The use of cannabis and rapidly acting cannabinoids posed considerable challenges for blinding, as the psychoactive effects are expected to be quickly discernible to study participants, particularly those who have been previous users of such products. Dronabinol was expected to be more easily blinded. The outcomes measured were variable, including change in weight, change in body fat (measured as a percentage of total body weight), change in appetite (measured on a visual analogue scale), change in caloric intake (measured in kcals/kg/24hr), change in nausea and vomiting (measured on a visual analogue scale), change in performance (measured by Karnofsky performance score or specific tests for memory and dexterity) and change in mood (measured on a visual analogue scale).The evidence for substantial effects on morbidity and mortality is currently limited. Data from only one relatively small study (n=139, of which only 88 were evaluable), conducted in the period before access to highly-active antiretroviral therapy (HAART), showed that patients administered dronabinol were twice as likely to gain 2kg or more in body weight (RR 2.09), but the confidence interval for this measure (95% CI 0.72 - 6.06) included unity. The mean weight gain in the dronabinol group was only 0.1kg, compared with a loss of 0.4kg in the placebo group. However, the quality of sequence generation and allocation concealment in this study, in which participants were randomised by centre, could not be assessed.. Despite dronabinol being registered by at least some medicines regulatory authorities for the treatment of AIDS-associated anorexia, and some jurisdictions making allowances for the "medical" use of marijuana by patients with HIV/AIDS, evidence for the efficacy and safety of cannabis and cannabinoids in this setting is lacking. Such studies as have been performed have been of short duration, in small numbers of patients, and have focused on short-term measures of efficacy. Long-term data, showing a sustained effect on AIDS-related morbidity and mortality and safety in patients on effective antiretroviral therapy, has yet to be presented. Whether the available evidence is sufficient to justify a wide-ranging revisiting of medicines regulatory practice remains unclear.

Topics: Acquired Immunodeficiency Syndrome; Adult; Cannabinoids; Cannabis; Dronabinol; HIV Infections; Humans; Morbidity; Phytotherapy; Randomized Controlled Trials as Topic; Weight Gain

Inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) patients suffer from significant morbidity and diminished life quality. The plant cannabis is beneficial in various gastrointestinal diseases, stimulating appetite and causing weight gain. Our aims were to assess whether treatment with inhaled cannabis improves quality of life, disease activity and promotes weight gain in these patients.. Patients with long-standing IBD who were prescribed cannabis treatment were included. Two quality of life questionnaires and disease activity indexes were performed, and patient's body weight was measured before cannabis initiation and after 3 months' treatment.. Thirteen patients were included. After 3 months' treatment, patients reported improvement in general health perception (p = 0.001), social functioning (p = 0.0002), ability to work (p = 0.0005), physical pain (p = 0.004) and depression (p = 0.007). A schematic scale of health perception showed an improved score from 4.1 ± 1.43 to 7 ± 1.42 (p = 0.0002). Patients had a weight gain of 4.3 ± 2 kg during treatment (range 2-8; p = 0.0002) and an average rise in BMI of 1.4 ± 0.61 (range 0.8-2.7; p = 0.002). The average Harvey-Bradshaw index was reduced from 11.36 ± 3.17 to 5.72 ± 2.68 (p = 0.001).. Three months' treatment with inhaled cannabis improves quality of life measurements, disease activity index, and causes weight gain and rise in BMI in long-standing IBD patients.

Topics: Administration, Inhalation; Adult; Cannabis; Female; Humans; Inflammatory Bowel Diseases; Male; Marijuana Smoking; Middle Aged; Pain Measurement; Phytotherapy; Pilot Projects; Prospective Studies; Quality of Life; Severity of Illness Index; Surveys and Questionnaires; Treatment Outcome; Weight Gain

No safety problems specific to HIV or protease inhibitors were found in a study in which volunteers stayed in a research hospital 24 hours a day and were randomly assigned to either smoke marijuana, take oral THC, or take an oral placebo. Marijuana and THC use was associated with weight gain.

Topics: California; Cannabis; Dronabinol; HIV Infections; HIV Protease Inhibitors; Humans; Phytotherapy; Placebos; Reverse Transcriptase Inhibitors; Safety; Weight Gain

Topics: Animals; Cannabidiol; Cannabis; Dronabinol; Endocannabinoids; Glucose; Mice; Mice, Inbred C57BL; Obesity; Weight Gain

Topics: Cannabinoid Receptor Agonists; Cannabinoids; Cannabis; Endocrine System Diseases; Female; Humans; Pregnancy; Prenatal Exposure Delayed Effects; Tobacco Smoke Pollution; Weight Gain

While acute cannabis use stimulates appetite, general population studies suggest that chronic use is associated with reduced risk of obesity and other cardiometabolic risk factors. In this study we investigated changes in body mass index (BMI), fasting blood glucose and lipids, and rates of metabolic syndrome risk factors in cannabis users vs. non-users in 109 minimally treated patients with first-episode schizophrenia, schizophreniform or schizo-affective disorder who were treated according to a standardized treatment regime with depot antipsychotic medication over 12 months. Participants underwent repeated urine toxicology tests for cannabis and those testing positive at any time during the study (n = 40), were compared with those who tested negative at all time points (n = 69). There was a significant group*time interaction effect (p = 0.002) with the cannabis negative group showing a greater increase in BMI than the cannabis positive group, after adjusting for age, sex, methamphetamine use and modal dose of antipsychotic. There were no group*time interaction effects for fasting blood glucose or lipids. Post hoc tests indicated significant increases in fasting blood glucose and triglycerides and a decrease in high-density lipoprotein cholesterol for the cannabis negative group, with no significant changes in the cannabis positive group. Rates of metabolic syndrome did not differ significantly between groups, although more cannabis negative patients had elevated waist-circumference at endpoint (p = 0.003). It may be that chronic cannabis use directly suppresses appetite, thereby preventing weight gain in users. However, other indirect effects such as dietary neglect and smoking may be contributory and could explain our findings.

Topics: Adult; Antipsychotic Agents; Body Mass Index; Cannabis; Fasting; Female; Glucose; Humans; Lipids; Longitudinal Studies; Male; Metabolic Syndrome; Psychotic Disorders; Schizophrenia; Substance-Related Disorders; Waist Circumference; Weight Gain; Young Adult

Topics: Cannabis; Carbazoles; Carvedilol; Diagnosis, Differential; Glucose; Hemodialysis Solutions; Humans; Hypoglycemia; Kidney Failure, Chronic; Male; Marijuana Abuse; Marijuana Smoking; Mental Disorders; Patient Compliance; Polypharmacy; Propanolamines; Renal Dialysis; Weight Gain; Young Adult

The aim of this study was to investigate the effect of an organic cannabis extract on β-cell secretory function in an in vivo diet-induced obese rat model and determine the associated molecular changes within pancreatic tissue. Diet-induced obese Wistar rats and rats fed on standard pellets were subcutaneously injected with an organic cannabis extract or the vehicle over a 28-day period. The effect of diet and treatment was evaluated using the intraperitoneal glucose tolerance tests (IPGTTs) and qPCR analysis on rat pancreata harvested upon termination of the experiment. The cafeteria diet induced an average weight difference of 32g and an overall increase in body weight in the experimental groups occurred at a significantly slower rate than the control groups, irrespective of diet. Area under the curve for glucose (AUC(g)) in the obese group was significantly lower compared to the lean group (p<0.001), with cannabis treatment significantly reducing the AUC(g) in the lean group (p<0.05), and remained unchanged in the obese group, relative to the obese control group. qPCR analysis showed that the cafeteria diet induced down-regulation of the following genes in the obese control group, relative to lean controls: UCP2, c-MYC and FLIP. Cannabis treatment in the obese group resulted in up-regulation of CB1, GLUT2, UCP2 and PKB, relative to the obese control group, while c-MYC levels were down-regulated, relative to the lean control group. Treatment did not significantly change gene expression in the lean group. These results suggest that the cannabis extract protects pancreatic islets against the negative effects of obesity.

Topics: Animals; Anti-Obesity Agents; Area Under Curve; Blood Glucose; Body Weight; Cannabis; Diet; Disease Models, Animal; Down-Regulation; Gene Expression; Genes, myc; Glucose Tolerance Test; Injections, Subcutaneous; Insulin-Secreting Cells; Ion Channels; Mitochondrial Proteins; Obesity; Phytotherapy; Plant Extracts; Polymerase Chain Reaction; Rats; Uncoupling Protein 2; Weight Gain