More Exciting News!
Emerald Health Therapeutics’ Scientific Advisors Publish Research Discovery of THCA Cannabinoid’s Neuroprotective Treatment Potential
British Journal of Pharmacology highlights therapeutic potential of THCA, which Emerald is one of few Canadian licensed medical producers to produce and sell in current product line
VICTORIA, British Columbia, Sept. 20, 2017 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Emerald Health Therapeutics Inc. (EHT) (TSXV:EMH) (OCTQX:EMHTF), a Canadian licensed medical producer of cannabis, is pleased to report that members of its scientific advisory team have made a novel discovery highlighting the potential of tetrahydrocannabinolic acid (THCA), a naturally occurring non-psychotropic cannabinoid, to treat Huntington’s disease and other metabolic, neurodegenerative and neuroinflammatory diseases. These results were published in the British Journal of Pharmacology in a peer-reviewed article entitled, “Tetrahydrocannabinolic acid is a potent PPARγ agonist with neuroprotective activity.”
This recent article in the British Journal of Pharmacology focused on the activity of Δ9-THCA, one of the most common cannabinoids (and a non-psychotropic precursor of THC), on PPARγ. PPARγ signalling has a role in neuroinflammation and epilepsy. Δ9-THCA is a potent PPARγ agonist and in this study exhibited neuroprotective and anti-neuroinflammatory activity in an animal model of Huntington´s disease.
This research was conducted at Instituto Maimnides de Investigacin Biomdica de Crdoba (IMIBIC). Co-authors of this paper included EHT scientific advisory board members Eduardo Muoz, MD, PhD, Professor of Immunology at University of Crdoba; Giovanni Appendino, PhD, Professor of Pharmaceutical Chemistry at University of Eastern Piedmont; and Gaetano Morello, ND, clinician, Complex Chronic Disease Program, BC Women’s Hospital.
“A large number of patients suffer from neurodegenerative diseases and they are not responsive to available medical treatments. Our research data provide further evidence that cannabinoids hold therapeutic potential for a wide range of diseases and conditions, including neurodegeneration, which represents a significant unmet medical need,” said Eduardo Muoz, PhD, EHP’s Chief Scientific Officer, Professor of Immunology at the University of Crdoba, and corresponding author of the paper.
“It is very encouraging to see the successful effort of Drs. Muoz and Appendino, who stand in a small circle of international scientific pioneers who have worked on cannabinoid research for well over a decade. We applaud their ground-breaking research on THCA and being published in this leading pharmacology journal,” said Frey Garabagi, PhD, Vice President of R&D of EHT. “We are pleased to be one of the first and few companies to offer THCA cannabis oil and look forward to generating human data from clinical research we are planning for this product in the near future.”