ABSTRACT: Type II collagen-induced arthritis (CIA) is an animal model of rheumatoid arthritis that has been used extensively to address questions of disease pathogenesis and to validate novel therapeutic targets. Susceptibility to CIA is strongly associated with major histocompatibility complex class II genes, and the development of arthritis is accompanied by a robust T- ... Continue Reading
Arthritis
STUDY: Immunoactive cannabinoids: Therapeutic prospects for marijuana constituents
ABSTRACT: Marijuana, the common name for Cannabis sativa, is a widely distributed hemp plant whose dried flowering tops and leaves have been used for medicinal purposes for 12,000 years by some estimates (1). The article by Malfait et al. (2) in this issue of PNAS is relevant to the question of whether such traditional uses of marijuana could be clinically justifiable ... Continue Reading
STUDY: The nonpsychoactive cannabis constituent cannabidiol is an oral anti-arthritic therapeutic in murine collagen-induced arthritis
ABSTRACT: The therapeutic potential of cannabidiol (CBD), the major nonpsychoactive component of cannabis, was explored in murine collagen-induced arthritis (CIA). CIA was elicited by immunizing DBA/1 mice with type II collagen (CII) in complete Freund's adjuvant. The CII used was either bovine or murine, resulting in classical acute CIA or in chronic relapsing CIA, ... Continue Reading