A central feature of osteoarthritis is the breakdown and loss of cartilage material within the joints of the body. It is known that cannabinoids have an anti-inflammatory effect and reduce joint damage.
In this study, the effects of a synthetic cannabinoid was evaluated in vitro (in the laboratory) to determine if it would interrupt the pathway that promoted cartilage breakdown.
The authors found a novel chemical path which indicates that cannabinoids may prevent cartilage breakdown in osteoarthritis.
Osteoarthritis is the most common chronic degenerative joint disease in the world, and affects over 2.5 million individuals in the United States alone. Perhaps future studies will show positive benefit from natural marijuana in human testing.
