CANNABIS
AND ANTIBIOTICS - SCI & TECH
News:
Antibiotic Properties of
Phytocannabinoids in 2024
What's
in the news?
●
Antibiotic Properties of Phytocannabinoids,
CSIR-IIIM Jammu researchers have found a compound, THCBD which has a potent antibiotic effect against Staphylococcus aureus bacterium.
Key
takeaways:
●
The CSIR-Indian Institute of Integrative
Medicine (IIIM) in Jammu has conducted a study suggesting that certain
compounds found in the cannabis plant, known as phytocannabinoids, may exhibit previously undiscovered antibiotic
properties.
●
Staphylococcus
aureus is responsible for the second most number of deaths
due to anti-microbial resistance.
Staphylococcus aureus:
●
It is a gram-positive bacterium that causes a wide variety of clinical
diseases.
○
Examples
- pneumonia, meningitis, osteomyelitis, endocarditis
etc.
●
It is found in the environment and is also
found in normal human flora, located on the skin and mucous membranes (most
often the nasal area) of most healthy individuals.
●
Its transmission is mostly from direct contact.
THCBD's
Antibacterial Properties:
●
THCBD stands for tetrahydrocannabidiol
(THCBD).
●
It is a semisynthetic phytocannabinoid.
○
Phytocannabinoid are cannabinoids that
occur naturally in the cannabis plant.
Research
Prospect:
●
The researchers tested THCBD against
bacterial cultures in the lab.
●
It demonstrated strong effectiveness
against efflux overexpression and MRSA strain.
●
It has also reduced the number of viable
microbial cells of S. aureus skin
infections in mice.
●
Hence, it can be a promising candidate to
overcome anti-microbial resistance.
Go
back to basics:
Antimicrobial
Resistance:
●
According to a senior principal scientist
at the CSIR-National Chemical Laboratory (NCL), Pune, bacteria have developed certain sophisticated ‘shields’ over many
decades to resist the effects of antibiotic medications.
●
These include the formation of biofilms – thin sheets of bacterial colonies that are
more resistant to antibiotics than when separated and cellular mechanisms
called efflux pumps that flush drugs
out from cells.
●
The resulting AMR increases the risk of disease spread, severe illness, and death.
Cannabis Sativa:
●
It is an herbaceous plant that belongs to the family Cannabinaceae.
●
It has been used by humans for over 5,000
years for medicinal and recreational
uses, firstly in Central and Northeast Asia and subsequently spreading
worldwide.
●
Cannabis, or marijuana, is undoubtedly one
of the most widely used illicit drugs.
●
It has a complex chemical composition that
includes cannabinoids which are a group of secondary metabolites, several of
which are responsible for the psychotropic effects.