Recently at the University of Guelph in Ontario, they have supposedly identified pain-relieving cannabis flavonoids that are “30 times more powerful at reducing inflammation than Aspirin.”
After a few doobies, they found that flavinoids called cannflavin A and cannflavin B — both non-psychoactive compounds — reduce inflammation. The flavonoids were first discovered in 1985 but research on them was stymied due to contraband drug laws.
The Department of Molecular and Cellular Biology explained that the molecules “target inflammation at the source” but MCB professor Steven Rothstein, noted that the flavinoids “are present in cannabis at such low levels, it’s not feasible” to engineer plants to create more of the compounds. He noted that the team is partnering with Toronto-based Anahit International Corp., which has licensed a patent from the university, to biosynthesize the flavinoids outside of the cannabis plant.
There’s clearly a need to develop alternatives for relief of acute and chronic pain that go beyond opioids.
Darren Carrigan. COO of Anahit indicated the company would commercialize products containing the compounds “through a variety of medical and athletic products such as creams, pills, sports drinks, transdermal patches and other innovative options.”
Being able to offer a new pain relief option is exciting, and this will soon become a new tool in the pain relief arsenal.
The study was published in the journal Phytochemistry.
