Santa Fe researchers from the Laboratory for the Study of Metabolic Diseases Related to Nutrition (Leemren) of the Faculty of Biochemistry and Biological Sciences of the UNL, and from the National Council for Scientific and Technical Research (Conicet) demonstrated, through tests in experimental organisms, that medical cannabis oil can help prevent various metabolic disorders.
The results of this research, financed by the Santa Fe Science, Technology and Innovation Agency (ASaCTeI), were internationally published in the month of April in the Journal of Food Nutrition and Metabolism, and it is the first study of these characteristics carried out in Argentina.
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In recent years, different metabolic disorders, including obesity, insulin resistance, hypertension and dyslipidemia, among others, favor the development of the so-called Metabolic Syndrome (MS) and are considered risk factors for type 2 diabetes mellitus. and cardiovascular disease.
MetS reached the status of a global epidemic, and, according to these studies, one way to prevent or improve these disorders consists of intervention with different bioactive compounds. Within these, medical cannabis oil, from the Cannabis Sativa L plant, appears as an alternative that accumulates tests carried out by researchers from the Universidad Nacional del Litoral (UNL) and the Conicet with positive results.
María Eugenia Oliva, director of the cannabis line at Leemren, explained about the research that “the work analyzes the effects of a broad-spectrum cannabis oil on the cannabis tetrad, blood pressure, and metabolic parameters in rats fed a diet rich in sucrose (DRS), a model that mimics biochemical, metabolic and hormonal changes to those observed in human Metabolic Syndrome”.
“The results obtained suggest that cannabis oil it could be useful as a therapeutic strategy on some of the alterations present in the Metabolic Syndrome, including hypertension, dyslipidemia, steatosis and liver damage. In addition, the analgesic effect of cannabis oil could be observed”, added Oliva, whose working group is also made up of the following professionals: María Eugenia D’Alessando; fellows Valentina Degrave, Michelle Vega Joubert, Martina Battisti and Candelaria Mauti; Daiana Marano; Santiago Gullino; and Paola Ingaramo.
It should be noted that all the oils were tested by the UNL Medicines Quality Control Laboratory (LCCM), directed by María Mercedes De Zan.
Advances in the scientific field of Santa Fe
Regarding the aforementioned study, the coordinator of the Medicinal Cannabis Research and Development Center, Eliana Eberle, explained that “it is essential to have rigorous scientific evidence in preclinical trials that mark the beginning in the search for safety and efficacy of cannabis oils used today in patients”.
“This -he continued-, not only supports research on the use of cannabis under the initiatives promoted by National Law 27,350 and provincial financing articulated with ministries and government areas, but also provides specific information to the regulatory agencies involved in the regulation of cannabis in Argentina and support for users,” he said.
Eberle stressed: “In Santa Fe we are proud of the progress that is being achieved in the scientific field related to cannabis, covering the entire value chain and highlighting its application in research for the treatment of pathologies, which constitutes a need in great demand in Argentina”.
For her part, the director of the Industrial Pharmaceutical Laboratory (LIF), Élida Formente, indicated that “since its inception, the Provincial Project of Medicinal Cannabis was undertaken together with the associations that had already been working on the subject, as well as in conjunction with the technological scientific system of the province that is very important. That is why we celebrate and value this research to provide scientific evidence related to the access to medical cannabis oil, ”she said.
And he remarked: “From the LIF, together with the Ministry of Health, we started working at the beginning of 2020, at the express request of our governor Omar Perotti, to be able to dispose of the medical cannabis oil, which until then was imported. At the same time, we work in an articulated way to continue expanding the evidence, to consequently improve access because it is clearly a matter of public health”, Formente concluded.
