vaporized cannabis / Tilray - LARVOL DELTA

A small clinical trial of vaporized cannabis for PTSD: suggestive results and directions for future study. (PubMed, Trials) - "Results identified positive changes consistent with medium-sized within-subject effects for cannabis in the treatment of PTSD. Positive trending results and high patient need mandate future studies of cannabis for the treatment of PTSD."

Journal • CNS Disorders • Mood Disorders • Post-traumatic Stress Disorder

Inhaled Cannabis Suppresses Chemotherapy-Induced Neuropathic Nociception by Decoupling the Raphe Nucleus: A Functional Imaging Study in Rats. (PubMed, Biol Psychiatry Cogn Neurosci Neuroimaging) - "Inhaled vaporized cannabis plant uncoupled brain resting-state connectivity in the raphe nuclei, normalizing paclitaxel-induced hyperconnectivity to levels observed in vehicle-treated rats. Inhaled vaporized cannabis produced antinociception in both paclitaxel- and vehicle-treated rats. Our study elucidates neural circuitry implicated in the therapeutic effects of Δ-tetrahydrocannabinol and supports a role for functional imaging studies in animals in guiding indications for future clinical trials."

Journal • Neuralgia • Oncology • Pain • Peripheral Neuropathic Pain • MRI

[VIRTUAL] Multiple-source discrepancy in vaporized cannabis pose unexpected risk (ASHP 2020) - "This literature review finds that inaccuracy in product labeling, variation in device performance, and differences in individual use attribute to disparity between perceived and actual patient risk that may be present. Additionally, we have provided a number of possible confounding variables in an attempt to explain the difficulties facing investigators who attempt to identify the sources of vaping illness."

CNS Disorders • Hepatology • Nicotine Addiction

Effect of Cannabidiol and Δ9-Tetrahydrocannabinol on Driving Performance: A Randomized Clinical Trial. (PubMed, JAMA) - "To determine the driving impairment caused by vaporized cannabis containing Δ9-tetrahydrocannabinol (THC) and CBD...However, the effect size for CBD-dominant cannabis may not have excluded clinically important impairment, and the doses tested may not represent common usage. EU Clinical Trials Register: 2018-003945-40."

Clinical • Journal

Subjective effects of combustible, vaporized, and edible cannabis: Results from a survey of adolescent cannabis users. (PubMed, Drug Alcohol Depend) - "Adolescents' reports of subjective effects varied across cannabis administration methods. Combustible cannabis' more desirable subjective effects profile might be indicative of higher abuse liability."

Clinical • Journal

[VIRTUAL] Impact of Vapourized Cannabis Flower on Schizophrenia-Relevant NeuralCircuitry and Behaviour in a Neurodevelopmental Rat Model of Schizophrenia (ACNP 2020) - "This study was designed to assess the causal schizophrenia-like changes in brain circuitry and behavior that arise from vaporized cannabis (of varying constituent profiles) exposure... These studies suggest that acute exposures to cannabis can worsen schizophrenia-related circuit and behavioural changes in a rat model of schizophrenia. Furthermore, in schizophrenia model animals, the presence of equal amounts of cannabidiol may ameliorate this worsening. Future studies will assess the effects of chronic exposures, and attempt to reverse the circuit dysfunctions observed in these studies via pharmacological and neuromodulatory approaches."

Preclinical • Alzheimer's Disease • CNS Disorders • Psychiatry • Schizophrenia

Sex differences in the acute effects of oral and vaporized cannabis among healthy adults. (PubMed, Addict Biol) - "When controlling for both body weight and peak blood cannabinoid concentrations, ratings of "anxious/nervous," "heart racing," and "restless" were significantly higher for females than males. Although additional research is needed to elucidate sex differences in responses to cannabis at a wider range of THC doses, other routes of administration, and products with diverse chemical composition, the current data indicate that public health messaging and clinical decision making around the use of cannabinoids should recommend lower starting doses for females and warnings about acute anxiogenic reactions."

Clinical • Journal • Cardiovascular • Cognitive Disorders

Long-term effects of maternal cannabis vapor exposure on emotional reactivity, social behavior, and behavioral flexibility in offspring. (PubMed, Neuropharmacology) - "To address this limitation, we developed a novel e-cigarette technology-based system to deliver vaporized cannabis extracts to pregnant Long Evans rats...In adulthood, CAN-exposed offspring spent less time exploring the open arms of the elevated plus maze and exhibited dose-dependent deficits in behavioral flexibility in an attentional set-shifting task relative to AIR controls. These data collectively indicate that prenatal cannabis exposure may cause enduring effects on the behavioral profile of offspring."

Journal • Mood Disorders • Psychiatry

Vaporized cannabis extracts have reinforcing properties and support conditioned drug-seeking behavior in rats. (PubMed, J Neurosci) - "Our data indicate that THC-rich cannabis vapor has reinforcing properties that support stable rates of responding and conditioned drug-seeking behavior. This approach will be valuable for interrogating effects of cannabis and delineating neural mechanisms that give rise to aberrant cannabis-seeking behavior."

Journal • Preclinical

Risk of Persistence and Progression of Use of 5 Cannabis Products After Experimentation Among Adolescents. (PubMed, JAMA Netw Open) - "In regression models adjusting for demographic characteristics and poly-cannabis product use, statistically stronger associations of baseline use with subsequent past 6-month use at the 6-month and 12-month follow-ups were observed for combustible cannabis use (odds ratio, 6.01; 95% CI, 3.66-9.85) and cannabis concentrate use (odds ratio, 5.87; 95% CI, 1.18-23.80) compared with use of blunts (OR, 2.77; 95% CI, 1.45-5.29) or edible cannabis (OR, 3.32; 95% CI, 1.86-5.95) (P for comparison < .05); vaporized cannabis use (OR, 5.34; 95% CI, 1.51-11.20) was not significantly different from the other products. In similarly adjusted models, we found the association of cannabis use at baseline with mean days of use at the 6-month and 12-month follow-ups was significantly stronger for cannabis concentrate than for other cannabis products; participants who had used cannabis concentrate on 1 to 2 of the past 30 days at baseline (vs 0 days) used cannabis concentrate a mean of 9.42..."

Journal

Vaporized Cannabis differentially modulates sexual behavior of female rats according to the dose. (PubMed, Pharmacol Biochem Behav) - "To test this hypothesis, we compared the sexual behavior of late-proestrous female rats in a bilevel chamber after vaporizing 0, 200 or 400 mg of Cannabis flowers (containing 18% of delta-9-THC and undetectable levels of cannabidiol) during 10 min. However, the reduction in the display of solicitations and lordosis in response to mounting observed in females exposed to the highest dose when compared to control and 200 mg of Cannabis groups indicates a reduction of sexual receptivity and motivation. This differential effect of vaporized Cannabis according to the dose employed, suggests that it modulates sexual behavior in a complex way, impacting neural circuits that control different aspects of this social behavior."

Journal • Preclinical

CHARACTERISTICS OF MEDICAL CANNABIS USAGE AMONG PATIENTS WITH FIBROMYALGIA (PubMed, Harefuah) - "MC is an effective treatment for fibromyalgia, with nearly zero % withdrawal from this treatment. The mean daily amount consumed was relatively low, less than 1 gram, and the main method of consumption was smoking with a huge variety in the frequency of smoking during the day and night among the participants. MC treatment enabled nearly half of the patients to discontinue any treatment for fibromyalgia and all participants recommended MC treatment for their loved ones in case they develop severe fibromyalgia. Most participants were against the reform of MC in Israel. Mild adverse effects were reported in nearly a quarter of the patients but did not result in discontinuing its consumption."

Clinical • Journal • CNS Disorders • Depression • Fibromyalgia • Immunology • Mood Disorders • Pain • Rheumatology

Effect of Inhaled Cannabis for Pain in Adults With Sickle Cell Disease: A Randomized Clinical Trial. (PubMed, JAMA Netw Open) - P1/2 | "This randomized clinical trial found that, compared with vaporized placebo, vaporized cannabis did not statistically significantly reduce pain and associated symptoms, except interference in mood, in patients with SCD with chronic pain. ClinicalTrials.gov Identifier: NCT01771731."

Clinical • Journal • Gene Therapies • Genetic Disorders • Hematological Disorders • Pain • Sickle Cell Disease

Acute neuroradiological, behavioral, and physiological effects of nose-only exposure to vaporized cannabis in C57BL/6 mice. (PubMed, Inhal Toxicol) - "Observed differences in BOLD activation volumes linked cannabis to increased awareness to sensory stimuli and reduced behavioral arousal. Quantified physiological, behavioral, and neurological responses served as validation for our mouse model of cannabis inhalation. Animal models of aerosol exposure will be instrumental for uncovering the health outcomes of chronic cannabis use."

Journal • Preclinical • Mood Disorders • Respiratory Diseases

Urinary Excretion Profile of 11-Nor-9-Carboxy-Δ9-Tetrahydrocannabinol (THCCOOH) Following Smoked and Vaporized Cannabis Administration in Infrequent Cannabis Users. (PubMed, J Anal Toxicol) - "Urinary concentrations of THCCOOH are dissimilar after administration of smoked and vaporized cannabis, with qualitatively higher concentrations observed after vaporization. Infrequent users of cannabis may excrete relatively low concentrations of THCCOOH following acute inhalation of smoked or vaporized cannabis."

Journal

Acute effect of vaporized Cannabis on sleep and electrocortical activity. (PubMed, Pharmacol Biochem Behav) - "This was accompanied by subtle modifications of high frequency bands power (during the light phase) and spindle coherence (during the dark phase), which are associated with cognitive processing. Our results reassure the importance of exploring the sleep-promoting properties of Cannabis."

Journal • CNS Disorders

Characterizing the Predictive Validity of Measures of Susceptibility to Future Use of Combustible, Vaporized, and Edible Cannabis Products in Adolescent Never-Users. (PubMed, Addiction) - "A five-item susceptibility to cannabis use composite index (by product) appears to be useful for characterizing and predicting youth at risk for cannabis use initiation across a spectrum of cannabis products."

Journal

Evaluating Safety and Efficacy of Cannabis in Participants With Chronic Posttraumatic Stress Disorder (clinicaltrials.gov) - P2; N=6; Completed; Sponsor: Tilray; Suspended ➔ Completed; N=42 ➔ 6

Clinical • Enrollment change • Trial completion

Psychiatric comorbidity in adolescent use and poly-use of combustible, vaporized, and edible cannabis products. (PubMed, J Psychiatr Res) - "Cannabis legalization and commercialization has resulted in novel alternative cannabis products on the market, including edible and vaporized cannabis, which may appeal to youth with psychiatric problems...Psychiatric comorbidity was typically stronger in poly-product than single-product cannabis use and greater for externalizing-type than internalizing-type psychiatric problems. Practitioners, policy makers, and scientists should be aware that pervasive psychiatric comorbidity may be observed across the spectrum of cannabis product use among adolescents, particularly poly-product users."

Journal

Electronic Cigarettes to Vaporize Cannabis: Prevalence of Use and Associated Factors among Current Electronic Cigarette Users in Germany (DEBRA Study). (PubMed, Subst Use Misuse) - " Amongst current EC users, 7.2% had ever vaporized cannabis: 2.3% (95%CI = 1.2-3.9) reported occasional or regular use (1) and 4.8% (95%CI = 3.2-7.1) reported experimental use (2)...Highest usage rates can be observed among young adults. Hence, trends of EC drug misuse need to be monitored consequently, particularly in young people."

Journal

Effects of oral, smoked, and vaporized cannabis on endocrine pathways related to appetite and metabolism: a randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled, human laboratory study. (PubMed, Transl Psychiatry) - "In conclusion, cannabis administration in this study modulated blood concentrations of some appetitive and metabolic hormones, chiefly insulin, in cannabis users. Understanding the mechanisms underpinning these effects may provide additional information on the cross-talk between cannabinoids and physiological pathways related to appetite and metabolism."

Clinical • Journal • LEP

Axe continues to fall in cannabis industry as Tilray lays off 10% of staff (Financial Post) - "In the statement, Kennedy added that Tilray would aim to focus on its international medical cannabis business, science and research, the domestic recreational market and Manitoba Harvest hemp foods, a company it acquired last year for $420 million."

Commercial

E-cigarette, or vaping, product use-associated lung injury in adolescents: a review of imaging features. (PubMed, Pediatr Radiol) - "As seen in our teenage population, e-cigarette, or vaping, product use-associated lung injury (EVALI) is characterized by centrilobular ground-glass nodules and ground-glass opacities with subpleural sparing. The imaging findings are most consistent with acute lung injury resulting from toxic inhalation. Because adolescent pediatric patients might not be forthcoming with their history of electronic cigarette use, it is important for the pediatric radiologist to be aware of the imaging patterns of this disease."

Journal

Cannabidiol (CBD) content in vaporized cannabis does not prevent tetrahydrocannabinol (THC)-induced impairment of driving and cognition. (PubMed, Psychopharmacology (Berl)) - "Cannabis containing equivalent concentrations of CBD and THC appears no less impairing than THC-dominant cannabis, and in some circumstances, CBD may actually exacerbate THC-induced impairment."

Journal

Effect of Vaporized Cannabis on Exertional Breathlessness and Exercise Endurance in Advanced COPD: A Randomized Controlled Trial. (PubMed, Ann Am Thorac Soc) - P2; "Single-dose inhalation of vaporized cannabis had no clinically meaningful positive or negative effect on airway function, exertional breathlessness and exercise endurance in adults with advanced COPD. Clinical trial registered with ClinicalTrials.gov (NCT03060993)."

Clinical • Journal