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The first part of this volume focuses on the plant Cannabis sativa, its active ingredients, and the discovery of cannabinoid receptors as well as the therapeutic applications of activating, or blocking, the receptors. Following an overview of the plant, its medicinal uses and its preparations, further chapters cover biosynthetic pathways, pharmacological properties, cannabis-based medicine, toxicology, cannabis prohibition and clinical situations where blocking the cannabinoid receptors might be beneficial.
The second part covers the journey from humans to plants, analyzing anandamide, as well as other endocannabinoids and endocannabinoid congeners, biosynthetic pathways, current knowledge of FAAH-1, FAAH-2, monoglyceride lipase and NAAA, concluding with new areas of research.
1. Cannabis and Endocannabinoids: "The Old Man and the Teenagers" (D. M. Lambert) PART 1. The Phytocannabinoids: The Long Journey from the Plant to the Humans 2. History of Cannabis and Its Preparations in Saga, Science, and Sobriquet (E. B. Russo) 3. Phytocannabinoids in Cannabis sativa: Recent Studies on Biosynthetic Enzymes (F. Taura, S. Sirikantaramas, Y. Shoyama, Y. Shoyama, S. Morimoto) 4. On the Pharmacological Properties of delta9-Tetrahydrocannabinol (THC) (B. Costa) 5. Cannabidiol - Recent Advances (R. Mechoulam, M. Peters, E. Murillo-Rodriguez, L. O. Hanus) 6. From Active Ingredients to the Discovery of the Targets: The Cannabinoid Receptors (K. Mackie) 7. Medicinal Chemistry Endeavors around the Phytocannabinoids (E. Stern, D. M. Lambert) 8. Cannabis, Pain, and Sleep: Lessons from Therapeutic Clinical Trials of Sativex, a Cannabis-Based Medicine (E. B. Russo, G. W. Guy, P. J. Robson) 9. The Toxicology of Cannabis and Cannabis Prohibition (F. Grotenhermen) 10. Human Cannabinoid Pharmacokinetics (M. A. Huestis) 11. Blocking the Cannabinoid Receptors: Drug Candidates and Therapeutic Promises (G. G. Muccioli) PART 2. The Endocannabinoid System: The Short Journey from the Humans to the Plants 12. Discovery and Isolation of Anandamide and Other Endocannabinoids (L. O. Hanus) 13. Biosynthetic Pathways of the Endocannabinoid Anandamide (Y. Okamoto, J. Wang, J. Morishita, N. Ueda) 14. The Multiple Pathways of Endocannabinoid Metabolism: A Zoom Out (S. Vandevoorde, D. M. Lambert) 15. Fatty Acid Amide Hydrolase: From Characterization to Therapeutics (G. Labar, C. Michaux) 16. Monoglyceride Lipase as an Enzyme Hydrolyzing 2-Arachidonoylglycerol (S. M. Saario, J. T. Laitinen) 17. The N-Acylethanolamine-Hydrolyzing Acid Amidase (NAAA) (K. Tsuboi, N. Takezaki, N. Ueda) 18. Genetic Polymorphisms of the Endocannabinoid System (A. G. Norrod, R. A. Puffenbarger) 19. The N-Acylethanolamine-Mediated Regulatory Pathway in Plants (A. Kilaru, E. B. Blancaflor, B. J. Venables, S. Tripathy, K. S. Mysore, K. D. Chapman) 20. Index
The most attractive features of the book are that each chapter is well organized, generally well written and clear, and that it provides an extensive, up-to date and comprehensive account of both the cannabinoids and the endogenous cannabinoid system. The book tackles a very complex story in a manner that will be easily understood by readers new to this field. At the same time, since it provides an interesting analysis of many aspects of cannabis and its components, and of the endocannabinoid system, more experienced researchers will also find useful information to extend their knowledge of cannabinoids. (ChemMedChem, 2010)
