Clinical Pharmacokinetics of Cannabinoids and Potential Drug-Drug Interactions.

Over the past few years, considerable attention has focused on cannabidiol (CBD) and Δ-tetrahydrocannabinol (THC), the two major constituents of Cannabis sativa, mainly due to the promising potential medical uses they have shown. However, more information on the fate of these cannabinoids in human subjects is still needed and there is limited research on the pharmacokinetic drug-drug interactions that can occur in the clinical setting and their prevalence. As the use of cannabinoids is substantially increasing for many indications and they are not the first-line therapy in any treatment, health care professionals must be aware of drug-drug interactions during their use as serious adverse events can happen related with toxic or ineffective outcomes.

Vaporized Cannabis differentially modulates sexual behavior of female rats according to the dose.

Studies exploring the effect of compounds that modulate the endocannabinoid system on sexual behavior have yielded contradictory results. However, the effect of smoked Cannabis in women has been consistently associated with an increase in sexual drive. Therefore, it can be speculated that vaporized Cannabis will augment sexually motivated components of the sexual behavior of female rats.

Microbial transformation of cholesterol: reactions and practical aspects-an update.

Cholesterol is a C27-sterol employed as starting material for the synthesis of valuable pharmaceutical steroids and precursors. The microbial transformations of cholesterol have been widely studied, since they are performed with high regio- and stereoselectivity and allow the production of steroidal compounds which are difficult to synthesize by classical chemical methods. In recent years, ongoing research is being conducted to discover novel biocatalysts and to develop biotechnological processes to improve existing biocatalysts and biotransformation reactions.

Acute effect of vaporized Cannabis on sleep and electrocortical activity.

The use of Cannabis for medical purposes is rapidly expanding and is usually employed as a self-medication for the treatment of insomnia disorder. However, the effect on sleep seems to depend on multiple factors such as composition of the Cannabis, dosage and route of administration. Vaporization is the recommended route for the administration of Cannabis for medical purposes; however, there is no published research about the effects of vaporized Cannabis on sleep, neither in laboratory animals, nor in humans.

Bioprospecting of whole-cell biocatalysts for cholesterol biotransformation.

Microorganisms were isolated from industrial wool scouring effluents and from the soil adjacent to the wastewater treatment lagoon, both sterols-rich environments, in order to search for novel biocatalysts able to transform cholesterol. The isolates were identified on the basis of morphological and biochemical characteristics and phylogenetic analysis. Furthermore, a rapid and accurate bacteria identification by matrix assisted laser desorption/ionization-time-of-flight mass spectrometry was carried out.

Influence of culture conditions on the biotransformation of (+)-limonene by Aspergillus niger.

The influence of the cultivation system and of the culture medium on the biotransformation of (+)-limonene by a strain of Aspergillus niger was investigated. Biooxidation products were obtained in all conditions tested. Using a laboratory bioreactor, six terpenes were identified in every medium, predominantly terpineols and carveols, whereas terpinen-4-ol and perillyl alcohol were the only terpenes found when flasks were used for culture.