Chapter 9
The Pharmacology and Therapeutic
Potential of Plant Cannabinoids
Maria Grazia Cascio, Roger G. Pertwee and Pietro Marini
Abstract The plantCannabis sativahas been widely used by humans over many
centuries as a source offibre, for medicinal purposes, for religious ceremonies and
as a recreational drug. Since the discovery of its main psychoactive ingredient,D^9 -
tetrahydrocannabinol (THC), significant progress has been made towards the
understanding (1) of the in vitro and in vivo pharmacology both of THC and of
certain other cannabis-derived compounds, and (2) of the potential and actual uses
of these“phytocannabinoids”as medicines. There is now extensive evidence that
the pharmacological effects of some widely-studied phytocannabinoids, are due to
their ability to interact with cannabinoid receptors and/or with other kinds of
pharmacological targets, including non-cannabinoid receptors, and this makes the
pharmacology of the phytocannabinoids rather complex and interesting. In this
chapter, we provide an overview of the in vitro pharmacology offive selected
phytocannabinoids and reportfindings that have identified potential new therapeutic
uses for these compounds.
Abbreviations
THC Tetrahydrocannabinol
CBD Cannabidiol
CBG Cannabigerol
THCV Tetrahydrocannabivarin
CBC Cannabichromene
CBDV Cannabidivarin
CBDA Cannabidiolic acid
CBGV Cannabigerovarin
CBGA Cannabigerolic acid
THCA Tetrahydrocannabinolic acid
THCVA Tetrahydrocannabivarinic acid
M.G. Cascio (&)R.G. PertweeP. Marini
School of Medicine, Medical Sciences and Nutrition, Institute of Medical Sciences,
University of Aberdeen, Foresterhill, Aberdeen AB252ZD, UK
e-mail: [email protected]
©Springer International Publishing AG 2017
S. Chandra et al. (eds.), Cannabis sativaL. - Botany and Biotechnology,
DOI 10.1007/978-3-319-54564-6_9
207