Phytocannabinoids

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About Phytocannabinoids

Cannabinoids are a class of compounds found in the cannabis plant.
The prefix ‘phyto’ in phytocannabinoid means it comes from a plant.
Cannabinoids bind to receptors in the bodies of animals to produce a variety of neurological effects.
The researchers extracted cannabidiol from a cannabis plant and made it react with hydrogen, using palladium as a catalyst.
This process yielded a mixture of molecules with the same composition and order of atoms but different structures. One of them was THCBD.

What were THCBD’s effects?

Researchers tested the antibacterial properties of tetrahydrocannabidiol (THCBD), a semisynthetic phytocannabinoid, against Staphylococcus aureus, the bacteria responsible for the second most number of deaths due to AMR worldwide.
The minimum quantity found to be efficacious against a strain of Gram-positive S. aureus used commonly in AMR research was found to be 0.25 μg/ml, which the researchers called “potent”.
They found that THCBD “significantly reduced” the number of viable microbial cells of S. aureus skin infections in mice.

Key facts about Antimicrobial resistance (AMR)

It is a major health concern worldwide.
It refers to when bacteria, viruses, fungi, and parasites no longer respond to medicines used to treat them.

Q1) What is Staphylococcus aureus?

It is a type of bacteria. It stains Gram positive and is non-moving small round shaped or non-motile cocci. It is found in grape-like (staphylo-) clusters. It is one of the five most common causes of infections after injury or surgery. It affects around 500,000 patients in American hospitals annually.

Source: Jammu CSIR lab finds cannabis plant compound has antibiotic effects | Explained