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CBD AND TRYPTOPHAN

Innsbruck scientists have discovered a new mechanism of action of hemp plant components for the treatment of inflammatory diseases. Researchers led by Prof. Dietmar Fuchs and Dr. Marcel Jenny from the Innsbruck Biocenter have demonstrated that cannabinoids inhibit tryptophan degradation and could thus improve the quality of life of patients with a wide variety of diseases.

Researchers investigated the effects of cannabinoids from hemp in cell cultures. They analyzed and compared THC (delta-9-tetrahydrocannabinol) and CBD (cannabidiol). Due to the classification of THC, CBD became the focus of research.

Improve patients' quality of life

The results of the Innsbruck researchers demonstrate that CBD, among other things, inhibits the tryptophan-degrading enzyme indoleamine 2-dioxygenase (IDO) in stimulated immune cells. Tryptophan is an amino acid that can only be absorbed through food and serves, among other things, as a precursor for various neurotransmitters in the body. The inhibition of immunologically induced tryptophan degradation by cannabinoids points to a new aspect of their neurological effect: increased tryptophan availability in patients undergoing CBD therapy could benefit serotonin production and thus the serotonergic system. The effect of CBD is two to four times stronger than that of THC. This finding is closely related to the observed inhibition of T cell activability and thus the anti-inflammatory capacity of these active ingredients. Prof. Fuchs is convinced that inhibiting tryptophan degradation by cannabinoids could therefore improve the quality of life in patients with a wide variety of chronic immune pathologies and associated neuropsychiatric symptoms.

Application possibilities expanded

The promising results could significantly expand the therapeutic application of cannabinoids, says Fuchs. Their use could be considered for a wide variety of diseases associated with a chronically activated immune response, such as infectious diseases, sepsis, autoimmune syndromes, and malignant tumors, as well as neurodegenerative diseases. In these diseases, increased tryptophan degradation generally correlates with the severity and activity of the disease, as well as with the quality of life of the patients. The new mechanism of action for cannabis constituents, discovered by Dr. Marcel Jenny in Prof. Fuchs's team and his colleagues, was recently published in the Journal of Neuroimmunology. The research was funded by the Austrian Research Promotion Agency (FFG) as part of the BRIDGE program.

Follow-up project already approved

For many years, Prof. Dietmar Fuchs's research group at the Section of Biological Chemistry has been investigating biochemical changes triggered during an immune response, as well as their diagnostic and pathogenetic significance, particularly in chronic diseases such as HIV-1 infection and malignant tumors. The focus is on neopterin and tryptophan metabolism and their contribution to the development of immunodeficiency, anemia, cachexia, and neuropsychiatric changes in chronic inflammatory processes. These relationships are primarily investigated within the framework of clinical collaborations with institutes abroad. In addition, an analogous in vitro approach has been established for investigating the immunomodulatory properties of medications, food ingredients, and plant compounds. With regard to the mechanism now discovered, the scientists are particularly interested in the influence of the serotonergic system. In a second BRIDGE project, already approved by the FFG, Prof. Fuchs and his colleagues now want to investigate the effect of cannabinoids on serotonergic signaling in intestinal Caco-2 cells.

Source: Medical University of Innsbruck