Medical Cannabinoids 4: CBG

  • CBG is one of the non-psychoactive cannabinoids found in medical cannabis
  • Like many others, it shows promise as a therapeutic agent for a wide range of health problems
  • Scientists call for further, thorough research of this cannabinoid

So far in our series of articles on medicinal cannabinoids, we have described classic THC, the non-psychoactive but therapeutically very effective CBD, sedative CBN, energetic THCV and anti-inflammatory THCA. If you are interested in the medicinal spectrum and chemistry of cannabis, we warmly recommend these previous articles.

Today, however, we will look at a hitherto relatively unknown, but for many reasons interesting cannabinoid cannabigerol - CBG.

Non-psychoactive, but therapeutically effective

CBG is, like the well-known CBD, non-psychoactive - so if you're only looking for a cannabis high, don't seek out CBG-rich varieties. However, CBG is a cannabinoid that commonly occurs in cannabis at a level below 1%. It is therefore considered a secondary cannabinoid. Interestingly, CBG can be considered a kind of father of THC and CBD - it is their chemical precursor. Overall, from the CBG precursor, the cannabinoids THCA, CBDA and CBCA are "born".

Specific enzymes first begin to break down CBGA in the plant and direct it to transform into one of the three mentioned cannabinoids. Then, for example, exposing THCA to heat or ultraviolet radiation is enough - and voila, stellar THC is in the world. Regarding the ratios of CBG versus THC and CBD in the plant, a simple rule applies due to their direct chemical relationship - the more THC and CBD, the less CBG and vice versa.

Some of today's cannabis breeders are trying to create varieties richer in CBG through crossbreeding and genetic manipulation. A good example is the breeding team of the seedbank Subcoolseeds, which is actively working on the development of CBG varieties. Scientists are currently using an early extraction method, trying to catch the best time - for a plant flowering for 8 weeks, the CBG extraction time is ideally around the sixth week of the flowering phase.

léčebný kanabinoid CBG

Possible Health Effects of CBG

If you have already read our previous article "Introduction to the Endocannabinoid System", then you certainly know that plant cannabinoids (phytocannabinoids) are perfectly capable of cooperating with our endocannabinoid system, whose general function is to maintain balance in the body - the so-called homeostasis.

In different parts of the body, the endocannabinoid system is also responsible for various functions - for example, in the case of injury, it takes care of regulating immune cells and limits excessive inflammation.

In the case of CBG, it has been found that it is able to positively affect specific physiological systems and, as it looks so far, its health effects are very promising:

  • Endocannabinoid receptors are also found in abundance in the structure of our eyes, and it seems that thanks to CBG, medicinal cannabis is effective for treating glaucoma - it is able to reduce intraocular pressure. It acts as a strong vasodilator and also has beneficial neuroprotective effects.
  • In a 2015 study conducted on mouse subjects, it was found that CBG is able to protect neurons of mice suffering from Huntington's disease, which is characterized by the degeneration of nerve system cells in the brain.
  • European studies demonstrate the effects of CBG as an effective antibacterial agent, especially effective in the case of so-called Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA), which is a strain of microbes resistant to most current drugs. Scientists have been aware of the positive effects of cannabis on skin infections since the 1950s, but only now are we beginning to understand the chemical processes responsible for these effects.
  • In one of the very recent studies from 2017, experiments on mouse subjects found that purified CBG free of all delta-9 THC is very effective as an appetite stimulant. This discovery may possibly lead to the development of a new, non-psychoactive therapeutic agent that could be used to treat cachexia - a stage observed in advanced stages of cancer and other diseases, where muscle mass is lost and body weight rapidly decreases.
  • In a study that observed the effects of five different cannabinoids on bladder contractions, CBG emerged as the most effective cannabinoid capable of limiting these contractions - so CBG may be a quality aid against dysfunctions in this area.

Future of Cannabinoid Research

Researchers from around the world are excited by the current findings about the effects of CBG, and many of them support and call for further, future research. CBG appears to be an effective therapeutic agent against a number of diseases and conditions, both on its own and in combination with other medicinal cannabinoids. For scientists, it is especially interesting because it can be administered without any subsequent psychoactive effects, which may be undesirable for some patients.

Author: Jacqueline Havelka

Translation: Filip Maral

Source: leafly.com