Silveira João W, Issy Ana Carolina, Castania Vitor A, Salmon Carlos E G, Nogueira-Barbosa Marcello H, Guimarães Francisco S, Defino Helton L A, Del Bel Elaine
Department of Morphology, Physiology and Basic Pathology, Dental School, University of São Paulo (USP), NAPNA, Ribeirão Preto, Brazil.
Department of Physics, Philosophy and Sciences School, University of São Paulo (USP), Ribeirão Preto, Brazil.
PLoS One. 2014 Dec 17;9(12):e113161. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0113161. eCollection 2014.
Disc degeneration is a multifactorial process that involves hypoxia, inflammation, neoinnervation, accelerated catabolism, and reduction in water and glycosaminoglycan content. Cannabidiol is the main non-psychotropic component of the Cannabis sativa with protective and anti-inflammatory properties. However, possible therapeutic effects of cannabidiol on intervertebral disc degeneration have not been investigated yet. The present study investigated the effects of cannabidiol intradiscal injection in the coccygeal intervertebral disc degeneration induced by the needle puncture model using magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) and histological analyses. Disc injury was induced in the tail of male Wistar rats via a single needle puncture. The discs selected for injury were punctured percutaneously using a 21-gauge needle. MRI and histological evaluation were employed to assess the results. The effects of intradiscal injection of cannabidiol (30, 60 or 120 nmol) injected immediately after lesion were analyzed acutely (2 days) by MRI. The experimental group that received cannabidiol 120 nmol was resubmitted to MRI examination and then to histological analyses 15 days after lesion/cannabidiol injection. The needle puncture produced a significant disc injury detected both by MRI and histological analyses. Cannabidiol significantly attenuated the effects of disc injury induced by the needle puncture. Considering that cannabidiol presents an extremely safe profile and is currently being used clinically, these results suggest that this compound could be useful in the treatment of intervertebral disc degeneration.
椎间盘退变是一个多因素过程，涉及缺氧、炎症、神经新生、分解代谢加速以及水分和糖胺聚糖含量减少。大麻二酚是大麻的主要非精神活性成分，具有保护和抗炎特性。然而，大麻二酚对椎间盘退变的潜在治疗作用尚未得到研究。本研究使用磁共振成像（MRI）和组织学分析，研究了大麻二酚椎间盘内注射对针刺模型诱导的尾椎椎间盘退变的影响。通过单次针刺在雄性Wistar大鼠的尾部诱导椎间盘损伤。使用21号针经皮穿刺选定损伤的椎间盘。采用MRI和组织学评估来评估结果。通过MRI对损伤后立即注射大麻二酚（30、60或120 nmol）的急性效应（2天）进行分析。接受120 nmol大麻二酚的实验组在损伤/大麻二酚注射后15天再次接受MRI检查，然后进行组织学分析。针刺导致了明显的椎间盘损伤，MRI和组织学分析均检测到。大麻二酚显著减轻了针刺诱导的椎间盘损伤的影响。鉴于大麻二酚具有极其安全的特性且目前正在临床使用，这些结果表明该化合物可能对治疗椎间盘退变有用。
