New inflammation research published

27 February 2019

Professor David Greaves’s research group at the Sir William Dunn School of Pathology have published a new paper on human cannabinoid receptors.

Our two cannabinoid receptors were first discovered 30 years ago – the first (CB1) predominantly mediates the psychotic effects of marijuana in the brain, while the second (CB2) is expressed in the immune system and has been little understood. New research from the Greaves Lab, in collaboration with the University of Birmingham, shows that the CB2 receptor actually plays a role in preventing excessive inflammation in patients suffering from diseases. This breakthrough paves the way for the CB2 receptor to be used as a potential target for developing new treatments which might reduce inflammation associated with rheumatoid arthritis and inflammatory bowel disease.

You can read more about this work on the Research Highlights page of the Pathology website, while the full paper can be downloaded from the FASEB Journal.