South Korean Researchers Discover New Cannabinoid
‘Cannabielsoxa’ is the name of a new cannabinoid identified in Cannabis by a group of South Korean researchers. The cannabinoid in question was isolated during a study that evaluated the toxicity of a variety of cannabis compounds on neuroblastoma cancer cells.
Researchers Evaluated Antitumor Effects of 11 Cannabis Compounds
Cannabielsoxa, the new cannabinoid discovered by scientists came up during assessment of cannabis compounds for neuroblastoma treatment, a type of cancer that originates from neuroblasts - undeveloped nerve cells. Along with the new cannabinoid, the South Korean team also identified a couple of other new particles, including the first isolation of ‘chlorin-type’ compounds.
“Eleven compounds were isolated from the flower of C. sativa,” the researchers wrote in a paper. “The results also demonstrated that cannabinoid compounds had stronger inhibitory effects on neuroblastoma cells than chlorin-type compounds,” they added.
Seven out of the 11 evaluated compounds were found to have significant inhibitory activity for neuroblastoma. The new one - cannabielsoxa, might not be one of them, but well-known cannabinoids such as CBD and its precursor CBDA were confirmed to have strong antitumor properties.
Neuroblastoma is a type of cancer that causes solid tumors in children as well as malignant growths in children under the age of one. CBG, CBDA-ME (cannabidiolic acid methyl ester) and delta-8 THC also showed anti-neuroblastoma potential in the tests.
“The results of this study also suggest that these compounds have the potential to be developed into antineurbolastoma products,” said the researchers.
The team used chromatography to isolate the various compounds, after which they studied their molecular structures. In the second stage of the study, scientists applied a metabolic test method to evaluate each compound’s strength against neuroblastoma cancer cells.
The team comprised 14 researchers from government agencies, the Korean Ministry of Food and Drug Safety, the National Institute of Horticulture and Phyto therapy, as well as a group of renowned Korean univerities.
The latest discovery of a new cannabinoid is a reminder that there is still so much to learn about the cannabis plant; it’s a universe on its own. While the new cannabinoid cannabielsoxa might not be the ideal compound to fight cancer, it could still have other potentials in medical treatment that need to be further examined.
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Stephen Andrews
