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Cannabinoid and endocannabinoid system: a promising therapeutic intervention for multiple sclerosis

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Abstract

Multiple sclerosis (MS) is a chronic and complex neurodegenerative disease, distinguished by the presence of lesions in the central nervous system (CNS) due to exacerbated immunological responses that inflict oligodendrocytes and the myelin sheath of axons. In recent years, studies have focused on targeted therapeutics for MS that emphasize the role of G protein-coupled receptors (GPCRs), specifically cannabinoids receptors. Clinical studies have suggested the therapeutic potential of cannabinoids derived from Cannabis sativa in relieving pain, tremors and spasticity. Cannabinoids also appear to prevent exaggerated immune responses in CNS due to compromised blood–brain barrier. Both, endocannabinoid system (ECS) modulators and cannabinoid ligands actively promote oligodendrocyte survival by regulating signaling, migration and myelination of nerve cells. The cannabinoid receptors 1 (CB1) and 2 (CB2) of ECS are the main ones in focus for therapeutic intervention of MS. Various CB1/CB2 receptors agonists have been experimentally studied which showed anti-inflammatory properties and are considered to be effective as potential therapeutics for MS. In this review, we focused on the exacerbated immune attack on nerve cells and the role of the cannabinoids and its interaction with the ECS in CNS during MS pathology.

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Acknowledgements

We are grateful to Dr. Antonio Currais, The Salk Institute for Biological Studies, La Jolla, San Diego, USA, for proofreading of the manuscript.

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  1. Department of Healthcare Biotechnology, Atta-ur-Rahman School of Applied Biosciences, National University of Sciences and Technology, Islamabad, Pakistan

    Hina Khan, Fareeha Khalid Ghori, Uzma Ghani, Aneela Javed & Saadia Zahid

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SZ: conceptualization, supervision, writing—drafting, review and editing, data analysis, finalization of the manuscript, AJ: writing—review and editing, HK, FKG, UG: literature search, data analysis, original draft preparation. All authors have read and agreed to the published version of the manuscript.

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Khan, H., Ghori, F.K., Ghani, U. et al. Cannabinoid and endocannabinoid system: a promising therapeutic intervention for multiple sclerosis. Mol Biol Rep 49, 5117–5131 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11033-022-07223-5

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