Cannabigerol (CBG) found to stimulate immunity in people
A team from McMonster University have found that a cannabinoid compound in weed called cannabigerol (CBG) can defeat methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA).
This bug is resistant to many traditional antibiotics but CBG has now been shown to effectively treat MRSA.
The cannabinoid is non-psychoactive, so you won’t get you high.
They investigated 18 commercially available cannabinoids and they all showed antibiotic activity, some much more than others. The one they focused on was a non-psychoactive cannabinoid called CBG, as it had the most promising activity and can also be synthesized in mass quantities.
The team found that CBG stopped bacteria forming biofilms that grow on surfaces – by targetting the microscopic killers’ cell membranes.
CBG proved to be marvellous at tackling pathogenic bacteria.
The findings suggest real therapeutic potential for cannabinoids as antibiotics. It opens a therapeutic window and already there are big pharma interests to develop this into a drug.
The next steps are to try to make the compound into a synthetic drug that it is more specific to the bacteria and has a low chance of toxicity that can be patented for sale through mainstream pharmacies as prescribed by your GP.
Inside this plant, a chemical could be lurking that’s more potent than any of the other compounds we’ve found in marijuana.
The recent discovery of 9-THCP
Amateur growers turned scientists recently found a new chemical in their weed that could be more than 30 times stronger than THC – the herb’s famous ‘active ingredient’ that’s responsible for getting people stoned.
In a new report published in the Scientific Reports, researchers have isolated a substance which shares the ‘intoxicant activity of cannabis’. However, it is much more potent than THC.
In the cannabinoid tetrad pharmacological test, 9-THCP induced hypomotility, analgesia, catalepsy and decreased rectal temperature indicating a THC-like cannabimimetic activity.
What this means is that when consumed, the 9-THCP slows your movements and one became less active, but feeling lower levels of pain and enter a state of relaxation. The stoner also experienced a drop in the internal temperature of their bottom – which is not generally acknowledged to be the most popular effect of weed among the humans who choose to smoke it unless you’re living in the intense heat of the tropics.
The new cannabis compound showed a ‘THC-like cannabimimetic activity’, which means it works a bit like THC and causes the afore-mentioned symptoms of being baked. It’s been called tetrahydrocannabiphorol (THCP).
Cannabis crops helping bees recover
Agriculture Scientists recently discovered 16 different species of bees that gather pollen from cannabis plants.
A team of researchers went out into weed fields on farms in the state of New York armed with bug-catching nets. They found huge numbers of bees thriving around marijuana plants, which are a ‘newly introduced and rapidly expanding crop in the American agricultural landscape’.
A report on the canna-bees suggested weed fields could help to sustain bees during seasons where they are ‘resource-limited’ and can’t find enough pollen. The recent agricultural expansion of industrial hemp, Cannabis sativa, may influence the spatial and temporal distribution of pollen resources for bee communities worldwide.
Industrial hemp offers a unique floral resource to bees in agricultural landscapes. Hemp flowers late in the summer release an abundance of pollen during a period of native and agricultural floral dearth. As a result, hemp pollen offers a vital subsistence resource to bees at a point in the season when they are resource-limited.
Farmers don’t need to worry about harming bees. The presence of cannabinoids, particularly tetrahydrocannabinol (THC), in hemp pollen is not likely to have an impact on bee development due to the loss of cannabinoid receptors in insects. This means bees can’t get stoned because they lack the receptors found in herbalist humans.
