Marinol

Production of 2-monoacylglycerols (2-MAGs) by selective hydrolysis of the triacylglycerols (TAGs) of Echium plantagineum seed oil and Marinol and further purification was carried out. Three purification methods, including silica gel column chromatography, liquid-liquid extraction and low-temperature crystallization were assayed. Partial acyl migration during the purification step is always observed. Acyl migration rates were similar both for the column chromatography and for the liquid-liquid extraction methods, and resulted in 1-MAG/2-MAG ratios higher than 1...

Human tissues express cannabinoid CB(1) and CB(2) receptors that can be activated by endogenously released 'endocannabinoids' or exogenously administered compounds in a manner that reduces the symptoms or opposes the underlying causes of several disorders in need of effective therapy. Three medicines that activate cannabinoid CB(1)/CB(2) receptors are now in the clinic: Cesamet (nabilone), Marinol (dronabinol; Δ(9)-tetrahydrocannabinol (Δ(9)-THC)) and Sativex (Δ(9)-THC with cannabidiol). These can be prescribed for the amelioration of chemotherapy-induced nausea and vomiting (Cesamet and Marinol), stimulation of appetite (Marinol) and symptomatic relief of cancer pain and/or management of neuropathic pain and spasticity in adults with multiple sclerosis (Sativex)...

In recent years progress has been made in the development of pharmaceuticals based on the plant Cannabis sativa or on synthetic molecules with a similar action. Some of these pharmaceuticals, such as the mouth spray Sativex, have recently been approved for the treatment of spasticity in multiple sclerosis, but they are not the first and others, such as Marinol or Cesamet for the treatment of vomiting and nausea, and anorexia-cachexia syndrome, had already been approved. This incipient clinical use of cannabinoid drugs confirms something that was already known from fairly ancient times up to practically the last century, which is the potential use of this plant for medicinal applications - something which was brought to a standstill by the abusive use of preparations of the plant for recreational purposes...

Cannabinoid pharmacology has experienced a notable increase in the last 3 decades which is allowing the development of novel cannabinoid-based medicines for the treatment of different human pathologies, for example, Cesamet® (nabilone) or Marinol® (synthetic Δ9-tetrahydrocannabinol for oral administration) that were approved in 80s for the treatment of nausea and vomiting associated with chemotherapy treatment in cancer patients and in 90s for anorexiacachexia associated with AIDS therapy. Recently, the british company GW Pharmaceuticals plc has developed an oromucosal spray called Sativex®, which is constituted by an equimolecular combination of Δ9-tetrahydrocannabinol- and cannabidiol- enriched botanical extracts...

OBJECTIVE: This study aimed to evaluate the abuse potential and cognitive effects of nabiximols (Sativex, GW Pharma Ltd. Salisbury, UK), an oromucosal spray primarily containing delta‐9‐tetrahydrocannabinol (THC) and cannabidiol (CBD). METHODS: This was a single‐dose, randomized, double‐blind, crossover study comparing nabiximols (4, 8, and 16 consecutive sprays: 10.8, 21.6, and 43.2 mg THC, respectively) with dronabinol 20 and 40 mg (synthetic THC: Marinol, Solvay Pharmaceuticals, Brussels, Belgium) and matching placebos in 23 recreational cannabis users...

The aim of the present investigations was to find markers for differentiating between the consumption of illegal cannabis products and legal medication containing fully synthetic Δ9-tetrahydrocannabinol (Δ9-THC), e.g., Marinol capsules. Δ9-Tetrahydrocannabinolic acid A (Δ9-THCA-A) and Δ9-tetrahydrocannabivarinic acid A (Δ9-THCVA-A) were taken into consideration for analysis, because these substances are the precursors of Δ9-THC and Δ9-tetrahydrocannabivarin (Δ9-THCV) in plant material of Cannabis sativa and are not contained in medical THC formulations...

BACKGROUND: A pilot study (NCT00316563) to determine if delta-9-tetrahydrocannabinol (THC) can improve taste and smell (chemosensory) perception as well as appetite, caloric intake, and quality of life (QOL) for cancer patients with chemosensory alterations. PATIENTS AND METHODS: Adult advanced cancer patients, with poor appetite and chemosensory alterations, were recruited from two sites and randomized in a double-blinded manner to receive either THC (2.5 mg, Marinol(®); Solvay Pharma Inc...

BACKGROUND: Oral fluid, a promising alternative matrix for drug monitoring in clinical and forensic investigations, offers noninvasive sample collection under direct observation. Cannabinoid distribution into oral fluid is complex and incompletely characterized due to the lack of controlled drug administration studies. METHODS: To characterize cannabinoid disposition in oral fluid, we administered around-the-clock oral Delta(9)-tetrahydrocannabinol (THC) (Marinol) doses to 10 participants with current daily cannabis use...

Neuropathic pain is a debilitating form of chronic pain resulting from nerve injury, disease states, or toxic insults. Neuropathic pain is often refractory to conventional pharmacotherapies, necessitating validation of novel analgesics. Cannabinoids, drugs that share the same target as Delta(9)-tetrahydrocannabinol (Delta(9)-THC), the psychoactive ingredient in cannabis, have the potential to address this unmet need. Here, we review studies evaluating cannabinoids for neuropathic pain management in the clinical and preclinical literature...

Naturally occurring cannabinoids (phytocannabinoids) are biosynthetically related terpenophenolic compounds uniquely produced by the highly variable plant, Cannabis sativa L. Natural and synthetic cannabinoids have been extensively studied since the discovery that the psychotropic effects of cannabis are mainly due to Delta(9)-THC. However, cannabinoids exert pharmacological actions on other biological systems such as the cardiovascular, immune and endocrine systems. Most of these effects have been attributed to the ability of these compounds to interact with the cannabinoid CB1 and CB2 receptors...

Medicines that activate cannabinoid CB(1) and CB(2) receptor are already in the clinic. These are Cesamet (nabilone), Marinol (dronabinol; Delta(9)-tetrahydrocannabinol) and Sativex (Delta(9)-tetrahydrocannabinol with cannabidiol). The first two of these medicines can be prescribed to reduce chemotherapy-induced nausea and vomiting. Marinol can also be prescribed to stimulate appetite, while Sativex is prescribed for the symptomatic relief of neuropathic pain in adults with multiple sclerosis and as an adjunctive analgesic treatment for adult patients with advanced cancer...

Marijuana is the number one illicit drug of abuse worldwide and a major public health problem, especially in the younger population. The objective of this article is to update and review the state of the science and treatments available for marijuana dependence based on a pre-meeting workshop that was presented at ISAM 2006. At the workshop, several papers were presented addressing the neurobiology and pharmacology of marijuana and treatment approaches, both psychotherapy and medications, for marijuana withdrawal...

This article reviews recent research on cannabinoid analgesia via the endocannabinoid system and non-receptor mechanisms, as well as randomized clinical trials employing cannabinoids in pain treatment. Tetrahydrocannabinol (THC, Marinol((R))) and nabilone (Cesamet((R))) are currently approved in the United States and other countries, but not for pain indications. Other synthetic cannabinoids, such as ajulemic acid, are in development. Crude herbal cannabis remains illegal in most jurisdictions but is also under investigation...

For forensic and clinical toxicologic purposes, cannabis consumption is screened using easy-to-handle immunoassays. The sensitivity and specificity of these immunoassays have not yet been established in samples from volunteers receiving oral synthetic tetrahydrocannabinol or cannabis extracts using liquid chromatography-mass spectrometry/mass spectrometry as the reference method. Urine samples were collected in an open, randomized, single-center, three-period crossover study including 18 healthy male volunteers given either 20 mg synthetic tetrahydrocannabinol (Marinol) as a control substance or five different types of Cannabis sativa extracts...

BACKGROUND: Serum blood toxicology screens are believed to be important to monitor compliance and to identify levels of illicit substances in patients taking opioids for their chronic pain. METHODS: In this study, the authors examine the incidence of tetrahydrocannabinol (THC) in consecutive blood samples of patients given dronabinol. We assessed the incidence of THC in 27 patients who participated in a single-dose, double-blind crossover trial of dronabinol (Marinol capsules), a synthetic Delta9-THC, as part of a larger study, to determine the reliability of the toxicology screening...

UNLABELLED: We assessed the efficacy of dronabinol (Marinol capsules; Solvay Pharmaceuticals, Brussels, Belgium), a synthetic Delta(9)-THC (tetrahydrocannabinol), in 30 patients taking opioids for chronic pain to determine its potential analgesic effects as an adjuvant treatment. Phase I of this 2-phase study was a randomized, single-dose, double-blinded, placebo-controlled, crossover trial in which subjects were randomly administered either 10 mg or 20 mg of dronabinol or identical placebo capsules over the course of three, 8-hour visits...

No abstract text is available yet for this article.

In the letter by M. F. Balandrin and J. A. Klocke (13 Sept., p. 1036), it was incorrectly stated that nabilone (Cesamet) has been approved for marketing by the Food and Drug Administration. Nabilone has not yet been approved by the FDA. The synthetic cannabinoid recently approved is in fact dronabinol (Marinol), a synthetic form of delta-9-tetra-hydrocannabinol. In the same letter, the affiliation of the authors should have been Native Plants, Inc., not Nature Plants, Inc. In the original article by Balandrin et al...

Chemotherapy-induced nausea and vomiting (CINV) remains a significant problem in the care of cancer patients. Although the use of serotonin (5-HT3) receptor antagonists, as well as neurokinin-1 inhibitors, has reduced rates of acute emesis, many patients still experience acute vomiting; moreover, these agents have reduced efficacy in preventing nausea, delayed CINV, and breakthrough CINV. Nausea, in particular, continues to have a major--and often overlooked--impact on patients' quality of life. Optimizing the treatment for CINV likely will involve combinations of agents that inhibit the numerous neurotransmitter systems involved in nausea and vomiting reflexes...

In addition to their classical known effects, such as analgesia, impairment of cognition and learning and appetite enhancement, cannabinoids have also been related to the regulation of cardiovascular responses and implicated in cardiovascular pathology. Elevated levels of endocannabinoids have been related to the extreme hypotension associated with various forms of shock as well as to the cardiovascular abnormalities that accompany cirrhosis. In contrast, cannabinoids have also been associated with beneficial effects on the cardiovascular system, such as a protective role in atherosclerosis progression and in cerebral and myocardial ischaemia...