Hemp As An Antibacterial Agent

Medical grade hemp is an effective healer and now there are 'scientific indications' that hemp is also an excellent antibacterial agent.

From: Observatory section of the New York Times comes this "revelation" that any hempster could have told folks based on results.

"Marijuana Ingredient May Fight Bacteria

By HENRY FOUNTAIN
Published: September 5, 2008

"Researchers in Italy and Britain have found that the main active ingredient in marijuana — tetrahydrocannabinol, or THC — and related compounds show promise as antibacterial agents, particularly against microbial strains that are already resistant to several classes of drugs.
It has been known for decades that Cannabis sativa has antibacterial properties. Experiments in the 1950s tested various marijuana preparations against skin and other infections, but researchers at the time had little understanding of marijuana’s chemical makeup.

The current research, by Giovanni Appendino of the University of the Eastern Piedmont and colleagues and published in The Journal of Natural Products, looked at the antibacterial activity of the five most common cannabinoids. All were effective against several common multiresistant bacterial strains, although, perhaps understandably, the researchers suggested that the nonpsychotropic cannabinoids might prove more promising for eventual use.

The researchers say they do not know how the cannabinoids work or whether they would be effective, as systemic antibiotics would require much more research and trials. But the compounds may prove useful sooner as a topical agent against methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus, or MRSA, to prevent the microbes from colonizing on the skin."

The Drug Library reports on the subject of hemp as an antibacterial agent:

THE ANTIBACTERIAL EFFECT OF CANNABIS INDICA

Summary (p. 55-56)

Our study of the Mideuropean flora with regard to its contents of substances producing antibacterial effects comprehends 3,000 species from which the Indian hemp --- Cannabis indica --- grown in Czechoslovakia has been selected for elaborate investigation. A preliminary method of isolation accomplished by paper chromatography with the disclosure of an effective zone in the biological way has been described.

The most advantageous methods of extraction were determined, and the bactericide effect of the hemp substances experimentally proved in vitro on Gram-positive microorganisms: Staphylococcus pyogenes autreus haemolyticus, Staphylococcus aureus --- resistant to penicillin, Streptococcus beta haemolyticus, Streptococcus viridans, Pneumococcus Cornyebacterium diphteriae, and Bacillus anthracis.

Gram-negative microorganisms of the typhus-coli group remain resistent, as well as Pseudomonas aeruginosa and Proteus vulgaris. An excellent antibacterial effect on Mycobacterium in vitro even in a dilution 1: 150,000 could be ascertained.

A parallel between the bactericide effect of isolated, amorphous, and crystal substances, and a comparison of the sensibility of the two applied bacterial methods, both the modified Oxford method and the tests in a liquid medium was made in detail. The limit of efficacy in the maximal dilution of biologically active substance (1: 100,000) and the velocity of their effect in various dilutions were determined. The influence of inactivating factors has been studied in detail. Blood, plasma, and serum partly inactivate them and reduce their antibacterial effect.

As a conclusion, a comparison of the efficacy of these active substance[s] with penicillin and streptomycin at various pH was worked out, and a summary of hemp preparations manufactured for the purpose of clinical application in stomatology, oto-rhino-laryngology, dermatology and phthisiology has been given."

One more piece to consider from the American Chemical Society. The entire Copyright © 2008 American Chemical Society is posted, Antibacterial Cannabinoids from Cannabis sativa: A Structure−Activity Study with brief excerpts below.

By:

Giovanni Appendino,*†‡ Simon Gibbons,*⊥ Anna Giana,†‡ Alberto Pagani,†‡ Gianpaolo Grassi,§ Michael Stavri,⊥ Eileen Smith,⊥ and M. Mukhlesur Rahman⊥
Dipartimento di Scienze Chimiche, Alimentari, Farmaceutiche e Farmacologiche, Università del Piemonte Orientale, Via Bovio 6, 28100 Novara, Italy, Consorzio per lo Studio dei Metaboliti Secondari (CSMS), Viale S. Ignazio 13, 09123 Cagliari, Italy, Centre for Pharmacognosy and Phytotherapy, The School of Pharmacy, University of London, 29-39 Brunswick Square, London WC1N 1AX, U.K., and CRA-CIN Centro di Ricerca per le Colture Industriali, Sede distaccata di Rovigo, Via Amendola 82, 45100 Rovigo, Italy

Received May 1, 2008

Abstract:

Marijuana (Cannabis sativa) has long been known to contain antibacterial cannabinoids, whose potential to address antibiotic resistance has not yet been investigated. All five major cannabinoids (cannabidiol (1b), cannabichromene (2), cannabigerol (3b), Δ9-tetrahydrocannabinol (4b), and cannabinol (5)) showed potent activity against a variety of methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) strains of current clinical relevance. Activity was remarkably tolerant to the nature of the prenyl moiety, to its relative position compared to the n-pentyl moiety (abnormal cannabinoids), and to carboxylation of the resorcinyl moiety (pre-cannabinoids). Conversely, methylation and acetylation of the phenolic hydroxyls, esterification of the carboxylic group of pre-cannabinoids, and introduction of a second prenyl moiety were all detrimental for antibacterial activity. Taken together, these observations suggest that the prenyl moiety of cannabinoids serves mainly as a modulator of lipid affinity for the olivetol core, a per se poorly active antibacterial pharmacophore, while their high potency definitely suggests a specific, but yet elusive, mechanism of activity......

Given the availability of C. sativa strains producing high concentrations of nonpsychotropic cannabinoids, this plant represents an interesting source of antibacterial agents to address the problem of multidrug resistance in MRSA and other pathogenic bacteria. This issue has enormous clinical implications, since MRSA is spreading throughout the world and, in the United States, currently accounts for more deaths each year than AIDS.24 Although the use of cannabinoids as systemic antibacterial agents awaits rigorous clinical trials and an assessment of the extent of their inactivation by serum,25 their topical application to reduce skin colonization by MRSA seems promising, since MRSA resistant to mupirocin, the standard antibiotic for this indication, are being detected at a threatening rate.26 Furthermore, since the cannabinoid anti-infective chemotype seems remarkably tolerant to modifications in the prenyl moiety, semipurified mixtures of cannabinoids could also be used as cheap and biodegradable antibacterial agents for cosmetics and toiletries, providing an alternative to the substantially much less potent synthetic preservatives, many of which are currently questioned for their suboptimal safety and environmental profile.27 "

If you have anything to share on the subject, please post below. For more information on hemp and how hemp can help us, please visit the USA Hemp Museum, a private museum with a virtual wing. The museum's founder and curator, Richard M. Davis, is releasing his new book HEMP FOR VICTORY: WONDER HERB in the Fall '08. This work, like his first book HEMP FOR VICTORY: A GLOBAL WARMING SOLUTION, is about how to use hemp as a tool to solve our problems including global warming, health empowerment, etc.