Anti-Microbial Activity of Phytocannabinoids and Endocannabinoids in the Light of Their Physiological and Pathophysiological Roles

Ronit Vogt Sionov*, Doron Steinberg

*Corresponding author for this work

Research output: Contribution to journalReview articlepeer-review

24 Scopus citations

Abstract

Antibiotic resistance has become an increasing challenge in the treatment of various infectious diseases, especially those associated with biofilm formation on biotic and abiotic materials. There is an urgent need for new treatment protocols that can also target biofilm-embedded bacteria. Many secondary metabolites of plants possess anti-bacterial activities, and especially the phytocannabinoids of the Cannabis sativa L. varieties have reached a renaissance and attracted much attention for their anti-microbial and anti-biofilm activities at concentrations below the cytotoxic threshold on normal mammalian cells. Accordingly, many synthetic cannabinoids have been designed with the intention to increase the specificity and selectivity of the compounds. The structurally unrelated endocannabinoids have also been found to have anti-microbial and anti-biofilm activities. Recent data suggest for a mutual communication between the endocannabinoid system and the gut microbiota. The present review focuses on the anti-microbial activities of phytocannabinoids and endocannabinoids integrated with some selected issues of their many physiological and pharmacological activities.

Original languageEnglish
Article number631
JournalBiomedicines
Volume10
Issue number3
DOIs
StatePublished - 9 Mar 2022

Bibliographical note

Publisher Copyright:
© 2022 by the authors. Licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland.

Keywords

  • Anti-biofilm activity
  • Anti-microbial activity
  • Cannabis sativa L
  • Endocannabinoids
  • Gut microbiota
  • Pathogens
  • Phytocannabinoids

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