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Liver Disorders – Medical Marijuana Research Overview
Liver disease (also called hepatic disease) is a broad term describing any single number of diseases affecting the liver:
Hepatitis, inflammation of the liver, is caused mainly by various viruses but also by some poisons (e.g. alcohol), autoimmunity (autoimmune hepatitis) or hereditary conditions. Diagnosis is done by checking levels of Alanine transaminase.
Non-alcoholic fatty liver disease, a spectrum in disease, is associated with obesity and characterized as an abundance of fat in the liver; may lead to a hepatitis, i.e. steatohepatitis and/or cirrhosis.
Cirrhosis is the formation of fibrous tissue in the liver from replacing dead liver cells. The death of the liver cells can be caused by viral hepatitis, alcoholism or contact with other liver-toxic chemicals. Diagnosis is done by checking levels of Alanine transaminase and Asparatine transaminase (SGOT).
Haemochromatosis is a hereditary disease causing the accumulation of iron in the body, eventually leading to liver damage.
Cancer of the liver is most commonly diagnosed as primary hepatocellular carcinoma or cholangiocarcinoma and metastatic cancers, usually from other parts of the gastrointestinal tract.
Wilson’s disease is a hereditary disease which causes the body to retain copper.
Primary sclerosing cholangitis is an inflammatory disease of the bile duct, likely autoimmune in nature.
Primary biliary cirrhosis is an autoimmune disease of small bile ducts.
Budd-Chiari syndrome is an obstruction of the hepatic vein.
Gilbert’s syndrome is a genetic disorder of bilirubin metabolism, found in about 5% of the population.
Glycogen storage disease type II is the build-up of glycogen causes progressive muscle weakness (myopathy) throughout the body and affects various body tissues, particularly in the heart, skeletal muscles, liver and nervous system.
Clinical Trials, Studies and Publications – Effects of Marijuana, Cannabis, Cannabidiol and Hemp on Liver Disorders:
- Cannabidiol improves brain and liver function in a fulminant hepatic failure-induced model of hepatic encephalopathy in mice.
- Elevated levels of endocannabinoids in chronic hepatitis C may modulate cellular immune response and hepatic stellate cell activation.
- Inhibitory effect of synthetic cannabinoids on CYP1A activity in mouse liver microsomes.
