Cannabis for Inflammatory Bowel Disease

Summary

Background: The marijuana plant Cannabis has been used for centuries in the medicinal treatment of many disorders and is still the subject of medical research and public debate. Cannabinoids have been purported to alleviate a variety of neurological conditions such as MS-related symptoms including spasticity, pain, tremor and bladder dysfunction. Other neurological conditions like chronic intractable pain, dystonic movement disorders and Tourette's Syndrome were all reported to be alleviated by cannabis use. Cannabis has been used to treat anorexia in AIDS and cancer patients. In gastroenterology cannabis has been used to treat symptoms and diseases including anorexia, emesis, abdominal pain, gastroenteritis, diarrhoea, intestinal inflammation and diabetic gastroparesis.

Cannabinoids have also a profound anti inflammatory effect, mainly through the CB2 receptor. Cell mediated immunity may be impaired in chronic marijuana users. And a potent anti-inflammatory effect of cannabis was observed in rats . Studying the functional roles of the endocannabinoid system in immune modulation reveals that there are no major immune events which do not involve the endocannabinoid system. Cannabinoids shift the balance of pro-inflammatory cytokines and anti-inflammatory cytokines towards the T-helper cell type 2 profiles (Th2 phenotype), and suppress cell-mediated immunity whereas humoral immunity may be enhanced. They are therefore used for various inflammatory conditions including rheumatoid arthritis and asthma. In a mouse model of colitis cannabinoids were found to ameliorate inflammation and there are many anecdotal reports about the effect of cannabis in inflammatory bowel disease. However, there are no methodical reports of the effect of cannabis on inflammatory bowel disease. The aim of the proposed study is to examine in a double blind placebo controlled fashion the effect of smoking cannabis on disease activity in patients with IBD.

Conditions

• Crohn's Disease
• Ulcerative Colitis

Interventions

DRUG

smoking of cannabis

smoking of cannabis, 2 cigarettes a day, equivalent to about 50 mg THC

DRUG

smoking cigarettes with placebo

smoking cigarettes with cannabis that was chemically treated so that most active ingredients were removed

Sponsors & Collaborators

• Meir Medical Center

  lead OTHER

Principal Investigators

• Fred Konikoff, professor · Sackler school of medicine Tel Aviv university

• Timna Naftali · Meir Medical Center

Study Design

Allocation

RANDOMIZED

Purpose

TREATMENT

Masking

TRIPLE

Model

PARALLEL

Eligibility

Min Age

20 Years

Max Age

70 Years

Sex

ALL

Healthy Volunteers

No

Timeline & Regulatory

Start

2010-01-31

Primary Completion

2012-06-30

Completion

2012-07-31

Countries

• Israel

Study Locations