Monday, 7 December 2009

SCF-Ex ; cannabis & multiple sclerosis

A recent article states [1]:
Cannabis therapy has been considered an effective treatment for spasticity, although clinical reports of symptom reduction in multiple sclerosis (MS) describe mixed outcomes. Recently introduced therapies of combined delta-9-tetrahydrocannabinol (THC) and cannabidiol (CBD) extracts have potential for symptom relief with the possibility of reducing intoxication and other side effects. Although several past reviews have suggested that cannabinoid therapy provides a therapeutic benefit for symptoms of MS, none have presented a methodical investigation of newer cannabinoid treatments in MS-related spasticity. The purpose of the present review was to systematically evaluate the effectiveness of combined THC and CBD extracts on MS-related spasticity in order to increase understanding of the treatment's potential effectiveness, safety and limitations.
We found evidence that combined THC and CBD extracts may provide therapeutic benefit for MS spasticity symptoms. Although some objective measures of spasticity noted improvement trends, there were no changes found to be significant in post-treatment assessments. However, subjective assessment of symptom relief did often show significant improvement post-treatment. Differences in assessment measures, reports of adverse events, and dosage levels are discussed.
These compounds can be easely extracted by means of supercritical fluid extraction (SCF-Ex) with CO2.

Avoiding the use of further solven, with high yields and shorts times [2]

[1]: Shaheen E Lakhan and Marie Rowland; BMC Neurology 2009, doi:10.1186/1471-2377-9-59

[2]: Veress T.; J.Chromatogr. A 668 (1994) 285

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