The endocannabinoid system plays roles in numerous physiological processes including cardioprotection, but therapeutic development has been limited by psychoactive side effects and incomplete understanding of mechanisms.
Read this if you want a broad introduction to how the endocannabinoid system works throughout the body and where therapeutic opportunities exist.
Emerging evidence suggests endocannabinoid signaling provides cardioprotection
What the researchers found
This review provided a broad overview of the endocannabinoid system and its therapeutic potential, with particular attention to an emerging area: cardioprotection.
The endocannabinoid system is involved in a wide range of physiological processes, and several cannabinoids can be prescribed in Canada for conditions including nausea and pain. The review noted that beyond these established uses, an increasing number of reports suggest beneficial effects of endocannabinoid signaling for the cardiovascular system.
However, the therapeutic potential of cannabinoids remains largely unrealized for two reasons. First, the mechanisms through which cannabinoids produce their effects are not fully understood. Second, pronounced psychoactive side effects have limited clinical development.
The review covered the basic components of the endocannabinoid system, known physiological roles, and the range of disease conditions in which cannabinoid receptor signaling has been implicated.
Why it matters
This review contextualizes the therapeutic potential of cannabinoids within the broader understanding of the endocannabinoid system, highlighting both the promise and the obstacles to clinical translation.
The numbers in context
Several cannabinoids available by prescription in Canada for nausea and pain. The review covers multiple physiological systems but does not present original quantitative data.
How the study worked
Review article providing an overview of the endocannabinoid system, its physiological roles, and conditions where cannabinoid signaling has therapeutic implications, with emphasis on cardioprotection.
What this study cannot tell us
Broad overview that does not deeply analyze any single application. The cardioprotective evidence is described as emerging rather than established. Published from a Canadian perspective, regulatory context may differ in other countries.
How to read the evidence
Broad review of the endocannabinoid system. Moderate because it synthesizes established knowledge with emerging evidence.
When this study was published
Published in 2017.
The bigger picture
The cardioprotective potential of endocannabinoid signaling is a relatively new research direction that could expand cannabinoid medicine beyond its current applications in pain, nausea, and spasticity. Understanding how to harness these benefits without psychoactive effects remains the central challenge.
Questions still open
- Could peripheral-only cannabinoid compounds provide cardioprotection without psychoactive effects? Which cardiovascular conditions are most amenable to cannabinoid-based intervention? How does the endocannabinoid system interact with established cardiovascular medications?
Common questions
What does the endocannabinoid system do?
Why aren't more cannabinoid medicines available?
Read the original research
Cannabinoid signaling in health and disease.
Canadian journal of physiology and pharmacology, 95(4), 311-327
Citation
Lu, Yan; Anderson, Hope D. (2017). Cannabinoid signaling in health and disease.. Canadian journal of physiology and pharmacology, 95(4), 311-327. https://doi.org/10.1139/cjpp-2016-0346
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