O Sistema Endocanabinóide – uma perspetiva terapêutica.

• Autor(a) principal: Fonseca, B.M.
• Data de Publicação: 2013
• Outros Autores: Costa, M.A., Almada, M., Soares, A., Correia-da-Silva, G., Teixeira, Natércia A.
• Tipo de documento: Artigo
• Idioma: por
• Título da fonte: Repositório Científico de Acesso Aberto de Portugal (Repositórios Cientìficos)
• Texto Completo: https://actafarmaceuticaportuguesa.com/index.php/afp/article/view/5
• topic: Endocannabinoids; Cannabinoid receptors; Pharmacotherapy; Endocanabinóides; Recetores canabinóides; Farmacoterapia

Although the medicinal use of Cannabis sativa derivatives is well known since antiquity, the study of their properties expanded recently with the discovery of an endogenous cannabinoid system, which comprises the endogenous cannabis-like ligands (endocannabinoids), the cannabinoid receptors (CB1 and CB2) and the enzymes involved in their metabolism. Since the discovery of the endocannabinoid system (ECS), the scientific community focused on research of its clinical use and achieved important findings during the last decade. In some countries, cannabis derivatives are a pharmacological option for appetite stimulation and pain treatment. However, the first ECS-based drug rimonabant (a CB1 antagonist), approved for the treatment obesity with associated risk factors, was withdrawn due to safety concerns. Nowadays, based on the growing evidences resulting from preclinical and clinical studies of ECS modulators, these drugs are currently pointed out as novel therapeutic approaches for several pathophysiological conditions. Here, we review the potential role of (endo)cannabinoid system in therapeutics and the recent designed strategies for the development of drugs that target this system.