A new cannabinoid discovered: cannabielsoxa

A team of South Korean researchers discovered a cannabinoid previously unknown, the cannabielsoxa, The company was looking for plant compounds with anti-cancer properties.

Published in Pharmaceuticals, This study represents a promising step forward in the ongoing search for ways in which Cannabis compounds can contribute to the treatment of Alzheimer's disease. cancer treatment, especially in children.

A new compound from cannabis flowers

This research, carried out by scientists from the’Wonkwang University, from Korean Ministry of Food and Drug Safety and several other institutions, mark the initial insulation from cannabielsoxa. In addition to this new compound, the researchers also extracted ten other molecules, including six known cannabinoids and two chlorine compounds previously unknown.

A total of eleven substances were isolated from cannabis flowers. These included familiar names such as’cannabidiolic acid (CBDA), l’cannabidiolic acid methyl ester (CBDA-ME), the cannabidiol (CBD), the delta-8-tetrahydrocannabinol (delta-8 THC) and the cannabichromene (CBC). While the newly identified cannabielsoxa did not show significant activity against cancer cells in this study, several of the known cannabinoids did exhibit antitumor effects.

Targeting neuroblastoma cells with cannabinoids

These compounds were tested for their efficacy in inhibiting neuroblastoma, a type of cancer that accounts for approximately 6 % of all childhood cancers. The researchers noted that seven of the eleven compounds significantly inhibited neuroblastoma cell growth. The most effective of these were the well-known cannabinoids, in particular CBD and CBDA, which are already present in abundance in many cannabis varieties.

As the researchers wrote in their publication «Cannabinoid compounds had more potent inhibitory effects on neuroblastoma cells than chlorine-type compounds.»

This discovery reinforces the hypothesis that some cannabis-derived compounds could play a role in pediatric oncology, particularly in the treatment of difficult-to-treat cancers such as neuroblastoma.

At the beginning of the year, a exhaustive meta-analysis published in Frontiers in Oncology reviewed over 10,000 peer-reviewed studies, more than ten times the number used in previous analyses. Conducted by Ryan Castle and his team at Whole Health Oncology Institutee, this study concluded that the medical community had reached an «overwhelming scientific consensus» on the benefits of cannabis in the management of cancer-related symptoms.

Castle noted, «For every study that showed cannabis was ineffective, three more showed it was effective.»

According to the institute, this 3:1 ratio of positive results is comparable to, or even higher than, the success rate of many FDA-approved drugs, reinforcing the relevance of cannabinoid-based therapies in modern medicine.