The effect of cannabis extracts on the expression of fibrosis-related genes

Abstract

Fibrosis is a condition characterized by thickening and/or scarring of the respective tissue. Up till now, we can only try to prevent this condition, and unfortunately, it is almost impossible to reverse it. Therefore, new therapeutic interventions are urgently needed. It has been shown in the literature that cannabinoids, especially cannabidiol and Δ9-tetrahydrocannabinol and Cannabis sativa extracts have potent anti-inflammatory properties and thus may also exhibit anti-fibrotic effects. Our lab has developed several cannabis extracts that demonstrated antiinflammatory properties. Here, we hypothesized that these high CBD extracts may also have anti-fibrotic action. In this research, we utilized commercially available 3D-tissues to induce fibrosis. Next, we studied the effects of cannabis extracts on the expression of genes involved in the major fibrosis-related pathways using RNA sequencing and qRT-PCR. We discovered that high CBD cannabis extracts downregulate the expression of several key fibrotic genes indicating their anti-fibrotic potential at the transcriptional level.