On an unrelated note, the National Institutes of Health announced research funding yesterday for using marijuana in pain treatment:
Participating Organization(s)
National Institutes of Health (
NIH)
Funding Opportunity Title
Developing the Therapeutic Potential of the Endocannabinoid System for Pain Treatment (R01)
Activity Code
R01 Research Project Grant
Funding Opportunity Announcement (FOA) Number
PA-15-188
- See more at:
http://grants.nih.gov/grants/guide/pa-files/PA-15-188.html#sthash.yDVkGK5I.dpuf
Pain is a substantial public health issue, where it is estimated that about 100 million Americans suffer from chronic pain. Opioids have been increasingly used to treat chronic pain, and there has been an increase in the number of opioid prescriptions, which has caused a concomitant rise in prescription opioid abuse. While opioids may be effective in treating chronic pain in some cases, other treatment options are desperately needed. One such option is to explore and develop medications that work through the cannabinoid system to help reduce pain.
Recently there has been a resurgence in interest in the potential medical utility of cannabis and its constituents. Certainly, public perception is that cannabis has therapeutic benefit, especially in the treatment of pain, and there is some preliminary epidemiological and clinical research that supports possible benefits, yet to date there have not been adequate large controlled trials to support these claims. Moreover, the use of an unprocessed plant or crude extract, in which constituents vary and dosing is difficult to control, would not be an optimal design for a medication. In contrast, cannabis constituents, especially THC and cannabidiol (CBD), or synthetic cannabinoids (e.g. CB2 agonists), and the endocannabinoid system are promising entities that are currently under investigation as potential targets for pain treatments. Despite some positive outcomes, none of the cannabinoid-based drugs have yet been approved by the FDA for pain treatment. More clinical and mechanism-based basic research is warranted to develop safe and effective cannabinoid-based pain treatments.
Several small trials have demonstrated that cannabis can reduce the sensation of pain, including additive effects over those achieved from concurrent medications. Research is needed to examine cannabis-related compounds as alternative therapies for pain management. Important in this endeavor is to develop a deeper understanding of the role of natural cannabinoids and endocannabinoids in pain perception, processes, and outcomes. Research is also needed to determine how to modulate key endocannabinoid receptors, ligands, and enzyme levels in pain conditions. This funding opportunity announcement (FOA) encourages research project grant (R01) applications that study cannabinoids (phytocannabinoids and synthetic cannabinoids) and the endocannabioid system to evaluate the therapeutic potential of the endocannabinoid system across a variety of pain conditions.
Objectives
The purpose of this NIH Pain Consortium-endorsed FOA is to support projects examining the therapeutic potential of cannabinoids and endocannabinoid system across a variety of pain conditions. Research supported under this FOA is wide-ranging. In general, the goal is to understand the role of cannabinoids in the management of chronic pain, in part, to help mitigate the high rate of use and abuse of opioids.
Applicants responding to this FOA should consider the following points: 1) If plant derived cannabis material is proposed, it should be well-justified, with a statement on where the material or compounds will be obtained, and the status of a schedule 1 license should be noted. 2) Explicit sex/gender analyses of effects are highly encouraged. 3) Role of cannabinoids in the modulation of HIV pain is also encouraged.
Areas of interest include, but are not limited to, the following:
- Understand the role of cannabinoids and endocannabinoids in the transition of acute pain to chronic pain;
- Understand the interactive role of cannabinoids, endocannabinoids, and opioid system in pain signaling;
- Study the spatial and temporal regulation of cannabinoid receptor expression at various stages of pain processes
- Understand the role of endocannabinoid ligands and ligand-metabolizing enzymes in pain conditions.
- Determine if the endocannabinoid system genes are regulated differently under pain conditions (role of epigenetics, gene expression, cis-/trans-effects, etc)
- Determine the potential for biased agonists, hybrid dual ligands, or allosteric modulators that include cannabinoid receptor targets with other targets (e.g. opioid receptors, TRP channels, etc) as possible mechanisms for analgesia
- Study the potential therapeutic efficacy of non-psychotropic phytocannabinoids found in cannabis, such as CBD, Tetrahydrocannabivarin (THCV), or others.
- Parse the effects of cannabis vs. Δ9-THC vs CBD and their role in modulating the endocannabinoid system in various pain states
- Understand interaction between cannabinoids, endocannabinoid system, inflammation, and pain
- Understand the role of cannabinoids in co-morbid pain conditions (e.g. diabetes, depression, HIV, cancer, etc)
- Use of novel approaches such as social media or hospital/clinical-based observational studies on the use of medical marijuana by patients with pain indications.
- See more at:
http://grants.nih.gov/grants/guide/pa-files/PA-15-188.html#sthash.yDVkGK5I.dpuf
