CBD for neuropathy

BACKGROUND: Gemcitabine plus a platinum-based agent (eg, cisplatin or oxaliplatin) is the standard of care for advanced biliary cancers. We investigated the addition of cetuximab to chemotherapy in patients with advanced biliary cancers. METHODS: In this non-comparative, open-label, randomised phase 2 trial, we recruited patients with locally advanced (non-resectable) or metastatic cholangiocarcinoma, gallbladder carcinoma, or ampullary carcinoma and a WHO performance status of 0 or 1 from 18 hospitals across France and Germany...

In neonatal rats, the transection of a peripheral nerve leads to an intense retrograde degeneration of both motor and sensory neurons. Most of the axotomy-induced neuronal loss is a result of apoptotic processes. The clinical use of neurotrophic factors is difficult due to side effects and elevated costs, but other molecules might be effective and more easily obtained. Among them, some are derived from Cannabis sativa. Cannabidiol (CBD) is the major non-psychotropic component found on the surface of such plant leaves...

PURPOSE: Adenocarcinomas of the small bowel and ampulla of Vater represent rare cancers that have limited data regarding first-line therapy. We conducted a phase II trial to evaluate the benefit of capecitabine in combination with oxaliplatin (CAPOX) in patients with advanced adenocarcinoma of small bowel or ampullary origin. PATIENTS AND METHODS: Eligible patients with metastatic or unresectable tumors and no prior systemic chemotherapy for advanced disease participated in this phase II trial...

The objective was to investigate the effectiveness of cannabis-based medicines for treatment of chronic pain associated with brachial plexus root avulsion. This condition is an excellent human model of central neuropathic pain as it represents an unusually homogenous group in terms of anatomical location of injury, pain descriptions and patient demographics. Forty-eight patients with at least one avulsed root and baseline pain score of four or more on an 11-point ordinate scale participated in a randomised, double-blind, placebo-controlled, three period crossover study...

Obstructive jaundice (OJ) and hepatic disorders have been shown to be associated with peripheral neuropathy in several clinical studies. The study evaluated the effect of OJ on the ultrastructure of the rat sciatic nerve. In the OJ group, jaundice was created by ligation of common bile duct in Wistar-Albino rats. In the sham-operated control group the same procedure was performed without ligation of the bile duct. On day 7, all rats were re-operated and sciatic nerves were explored to harvest 2-cm-long nerve segments for quantitative and qualitative histopathological analysis by light and electron microscopy...

GW Pharmaceuticals is undertaking a major research programme in the UK to develop and market distinct cannabis-based prescription medicines [THC:CBD, High THC, High CBD] in a range of medical conditions. The cannabis for this programme is grown in a secret location in the UK. It is expected that the product will be marketed in the US in late 2003. GW's cannabis-based products include selected phytocannabinoids from cannabis plants, including D9 tetrahydrocannabinol (THC) and cannabidiol (CBD). The company is investigating their use in three delivery systems, including sublingual spray, sublingual tablet and inhaled (but not smoked) dosage forms...

Neurofibrillary tangles (NFT) composed of the microtubule-associated protein tau are prominent in Alzheimer disease (AD), Pick disease, progressive supranuclear palsy (PSP) and corticobasal degeneration (CBD). Mutations in the gene (Mtapt) encoding tau protein cause frontotemporal dementia and parkinsonism linked to chromosome 17 (FTDP-17), thereby proving that tau dysfunction can directly result in neurodegeneration. Expression of human tau containing the most common FTDP-17 mutation (P301L) results in motor and behavioural deficits in transgenic mice, with age- and gene-dose-dependent development of NFT...

We studied a patient with paraneoplastic vasculitic neuropathy (PVN) associated with a carcinoma of the common bile duct. Immunohistochemical analysis of the biopsied sural nerve showed that the cellular infiltrates in the vascular lesions were composed primarily of CD8-positive T lymphocytes and macrophages. Pathogenic significance of the T-cell-mediated immunological reaction was suggested. Post-mortem examination revealed the absence of systemic vasculitis, which may be a characteristic feature of PVN. The patient responded to immunosuppressive treatment...

We describe the clinical spectrum of the L-tryptophan-associated eosinophilia-myalgia syndrome in 20 patients. In all but one case, patients met the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) case definition for the syndrome: peripheral blood eosinophilia (eosinophil count greater than 1.0 x 10(9)/L) and generalized, disabling myalgias without other recognized causes. Three patients with eosinophilia and myalgia developed eosinophilic fasciitis, and 4 other patients developed, respectively, pneumonitis and myocarditis, neuropathy culminating in respiratory failure, encephalopathy, and fibrosis about the common bile duct...