Pharmacological potential of JWH133, a cannabinoid type 2 receptor agonist in neurodegenerative, neurodevelopmental and neuropsychiatric diseases

Eur J Pharmacol. 2021 Jul 29:174398. doi: 10.1016/j.ejphar.2021.174398. Online ahead of print.ABSTRACTThe pharmacological activation of cannabinoid type 2 receptors (CB2R) gained attention due to its ability to mitigate neuroinflammatory events without eliciting psychotropic activities, a limiting factor for the drugs targeting cannabinoid type 1 receptors (CB1R). Therefore, ligands activating CB2R are receiving enormous importance for therapeutic targeting in numerous diseases including neurodegenerative, neuropsychiatric and neurodevelopmental disorders as well as traumatic injuries and neuropathic pain where neuroinflammation is a common accompaniment. Since the characterization of CB2R, many CB2R selective synthetic ligands have been developed with high selectivity and functional activity. Among numerous ligands, JWH133 has been found one of the compounds with high selectivity for CB2R. JWH133 has been reported to exhibit numerous pharmacological activities including antioxidant, anti-inflammatory, anticancer, cardioprotective, hepatoprotective, gastroprotective, nephroprotective, and immunomodulatory. Recent studies have showed that JWH133 possesses potent neuroprotective properties in several neurological disorders, including neuropathic pain, anxiety, epilepsy depression, alcoholism, psychosis, stroke, and neurodegeneration. Additionally, JWH133 protects neurons from oxidative damage and inflammation, promotes neuronal survival and neurogenesis, and serves as an immuno...
Source: European Journal of Pharmacology - Category: Drugs & Pharmacology Authors: Source Type: research