Cannabis with breast cancer treatment: propitious or pernicious?

Cannabis has been used for various medicinal applications including, but not limited to, cancer: most commonly to treat chemotherapy-associated side effects. Cannabis is often used for its palliative effects in the form of purified cannabinoids, or as extracts. This study was conducted using two breast cancer cell lines and aimed to evaluate potential anti-proliferative "intra-entourage effects" between purified phytocannabinoids resembling the THC and CBD ratios of medicinal and recreational cannabis strains, as well as to investigate potential "inter-entourage effects" between the different ratios and the phytochemicals found in a Cannabis sativa extract. This study also aimed to evaluate the potential interaction between cannabinoids and chemotherapeutic agents. The data identified an intra-entourage effect present in the MCF-7 cells when treated with a recreational, but not a medicinal, cannabis formulation. This effect may be due to THC partially exerting its anti-proliferative effects through the estrogen receptor (ER), present in the MCF-7 cell line. Little to no intra-entourage effects were observed in the MDA-MB-231 cell line and no inter-entourage effects were observed in either cell line. The simultaneous treatment of the MCF-7 cell line with various cannabinoid formulations and the common breast cancer treatment, tamoxifen, resulted in the diminished anti-proliferative activity of tamoxifen, an effect that was more evident when combined with recreational cannabis formulations. Since cannabis is commonly used in palliative care to treat chemotherapy-associated side effects, further research is required to investigate the potential interference of various cannabis formulations to ensure that the efficacy of chemotherapeutic agents is not compromised.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION

The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1007/s13205-021-03102-1.

Cannabinoid Combination Induces Cytoplasmic Vacuolation in MCF-7 Breast Cancer Cells

This study evaluated the synergistic anti-cancer potential of cannabinoid combinations across the MDA-MB-231 and MCF-7 human breast cancer cell lines. Cannabinoids were combined and their synergistic interactions were evaluated using median effect analysis. The most promising cannabinoid combination (C6) consisted of tetrahydrocannabinol, cannabigerol (CBG), cannabinol (CBN), and cannabidiol (CBD), and displayed favorable dose reduction indices and limited cytotoxicity against the non-cancerous breast cell line, MCF-10A. C6 exerted its effects in the MCF-7 cell line by inducing cell cycle arrest in the G₂ phase, followed by the induction of apoptosis. Morphological observations indicated the induction of cytoplasmic vacuolation, with further investigation suggesting that the vacuole membrane was derived from the endoplasmic reticulum. In addition, lipid accumulation, increased lysosome size, and significant increases in the endoplasmic reticulum chaperone protein glucose-regulated protein 78 (GRP78) expression were also observed. The selectivity and ability of cannabinoids to halt cancer cell proliferation via pathways resembling apoptosis, autophagy, and paraptosis shows promise for cannabinoid use in standardized breast cancer treatment.

Cognitive performance during the first year of treatment in first-episode schizophrenia: a case-control study

BACKGROUND

Several questions remain unanswered regarding the magnitude and time course of cognitive improvement in response to antipsychotic treatment. The purpose of this study was to assess changes in cognitive performance in antipsychotic-naive or minimally medicated patients with first-episode schizophrenia during the first 12 months of treatment, in a case-control design. Patients were treated with flupenthixol decanoate depot injection, according to a standard algorithm. The primary outcome measure was change in MATRICS Cognitive Consensus Battery (MCCB) composite score over 12 months.

METHOD

The sample comprised 92 patients and 100 healthy controls matched for age, sex, ethnicity and educational status. Cognitive function was assessed by means of the MCCB.

RESULTS

A mixed-effects model identified a significant group × time effect (p ≤ 0.0001) for the MCCB composite score, with patients showing a greater degree of change than the controls. For the other MCCB domains there were significant group × time effects at adjusted significance level for attention and vigilance (p ≤ 0.0001), visual learning (p ≤ 0.0001), verbal learning (p = 0.005) and working memory (p ≤ 0.0001), but not for reasoning and problem solving (p = 0.04), speed of processing (p = 0.03) and social cognition (p = 0.06). There were moderate correlations between change in MCCB composite score and change in symptomatology as assessed by Positive and Negative Syndrome Scale factor analysis-derived domains.

CONCLUSIONS

Substantial improvements in cognitive function were observed over and above a practice effect, and were significantly correlated with improvements in psychopathology and functionality.

Emotional face processing deficit in schizophrenia: A replication study in a South African Xhosa population

Schizophrenia is associated with a deficit in the recognition of negative emotions from facial expressions. The present study examined the universality of this finding by studying facial expression recognition in African Xhosa population. Forty-four Xhosa patients with schizophrenia and forty healthy controls were tested with a computerized task requiring rapid perceptual discrimination of matched positive (i.e. happy), negative (i.e. angry), and neutral faces. Patients were equally accurate as controls in recognizing happy faces but showed a marked impairment in recognition of angry faces. The impairment was particularly pronounced for high-intensity (open-mouth) angry faces. Patients also exhibited more false happy and angry responses to neutral faces than controls. No correlation between level of education or illness duration and emotion recognition was found but the deficit in the recognition of negative emotions was more pronounced in familial compared to non-familial cases of schizophrenia. These findings suggest that the deficit in the recognition of negative facial expressions may constitute a universal neurocognitive marker of schizophrenia.

The use of orthognathic surgery to facilitate implant placement: a case report

When attempting to restore an edentulous posterior segment of the mandible into which space the opposing maxillary segment has supererupted, it is necessary to idealize the maxillary occlusal plane to accommodate the final restoration. This report discusses superior repositioning of the posterior segment of the maxilla using rigid fixation with simultaneous implant placement into the corresponding posterior edentulous mandibular space.

Further studies on targeted DNA transfer to cells using a highly efficient delivery system of biotinylated transferrin and biotinylated polylysine complexed to streptavidin

Conjugates consisting of biotinylated transferrin and biotinylated poly-L-lysine attached to streptavidin have been prepared and found to transfer luciferase plasmid DNA very efficiently to HeLa cells in the presence of chloroquine. Transfection was dependent on (i) use of biotinylated short chain polylysine containing 70 lysine residues, (ii) biotinylated transferrin containing 1-2 biotin moieties, (iii) reaction of biotinylated transferrin with streptavidin followed by isolation of the resulting conjugate on Sephadex G-200 and (iv) interaction of streptavidin-biotinylated transferrin with biotinylated polylysine giving a complex suitable for DNA transfection. It was found that if the above sequence of steps resulting in the formation of streptavidin-biotinylated transferrin/biotinylated polylysine was followed without isolation of intermediate conjugates by Sephadex G-200 chromatography, pRSVL DNA transfer was still very efficient. Transfer of luciferase DNA by the streptavidin conjugates and subsequent expression of luciferase activity was almost completely inhibited by excess free transferrin, showing that gene transfer was through the transferrin receptor pathway via receptor-mediated endocytosis. The streptavidin (bio2-transferrin) bio10-pLys70 conjugate used in the present experiments was approximately one hundred times more efficient in pRSVL DNA transfection with the HeLa cells than the previously described avidin-pLys460 (bio-transferrin) complex.