New research suggests that a "component in marijuana" could lead to a new medical application for cannabis, The Business Standard reported.
Researchers at Tel Aviv University conducted a rat study and found that cannabis significantly helps heal bone fractures, Medical Daily reported. The administration of the non-psychotropic component cannabinoid cannabidiol (CBD) enhanced the healing process of the femora after just eight weeks.
Previous studies done by the same team, discovered that cannabinoid receptors within the human body stimulated bone formation and inhibited bone loss, possibly paving the way for the future use of cannabinoid drugs to combat osteoporosis and other bone-related diseases.
"The clinical potential of cannabinoid-related compounds is simply undeniable at this point," researcher Dr. Yankel Gabet said in a statement. "While there is still a lot of work to be done to develop appropriate therapies, it is clear that it is possible to detach a clinical therapy objective from the psychoactivity of cannabis. CBD, the principal agent in our study, is primarily anti-inflammatory and has no psychoactivity."
For the study, researchers injected one group of rats with CBD alone and another with a combination of CBD and THC. After evaluating the administration of THC and CBD together in the rats, they found CBD alone provided the necessary therapeutic stimulus.
They found that CBD -- even when isolated from tetrahydrocannabinol (THC), the major psychoactive component of cannabis -- markedly enhanced the healing process of the rats mid-femoral fractures after just eight weeks, The Times of Israel reported.
"We found that CBD alone makes bones stronger during healing, enhancing the maturation of the collagenous matrix, which provides the basis for new mineralization of bone tissue," Gabet said. "After being treated with CBD, the healed bone will be harder to break in the future."
The findings are detailed in the Journal of Bone and Mineral Research.
