From 2013. “Weed against zit?” – Investigation of the anti-acne...

From 2013. 

“Weed against zit?” – Investigation of the anti-acne effects of cannabidiol ,1 AG Szöllösi,1 E Lisztes,1 K Sugawara,2 R Paus,2 CC Zouboulis3 and T Bíró1 1 DE-MTA “Lendület” Cellular Physiology Research Group, University of Debrecen, Debrecen, Hungary, 2 Department of Dermatology, University of Lübeck, Lübeck, Germany and 3 Departments of Dermatology, Venereology, Allergology, and Immunology, Dessau Medical Center, Dessau, Germany

"We have previously shown that the non-psychotropic phytocannabinoid cannabidiol (CBD) qualitatively and quantitatively normalized the “pro-acne agents” (e.g. arachidonic acid) induced lipogenesis of human SZ95 sebocytes, via the activation of transient receptor potential vanilloid-4 (TRPV4) ion channels. In our current study, we aimed at further dissecting the putative additional “anti-acne” effects of CBD and exploring the related intracellular signaling pathways. CBD exerted a remarkable “universal” anti-inflammatory effect (complete normalization of the elevated tumor necrosis factor-α expression induced by “pro-acne agents” or Toll-like receptor activators) and an anti-proliferative action as well, both in vitro and ex vivo (full thickness human skin organ culture). CBD did not modify the activities of multiple intracellular signaling pathways (e.g. PP2B, PKA, PKC, and PI3K). However, CBD was found to inhibit the anandamide (an important endogenous lipogenic agent) induced activation of ERK1/2 MAPK in a TRPV4-dependent manner. Moreover, a genome-wide microarray analyses (as well as confirmatory RT-qPCR), performed on three independent sets of control and CBD-treated samples, revealed that down-regulation of NRIP1 and upregulation of TRIB3 (well-known regulators of the lipogenesis and lipid storing) might be the downstream effectors in mediating the actions of CBD. Taken together, our results demonstrate that CBD exert a unique, “triple” anti-acne activity (lipostatic, anti-proliferative and anti-inflammatory actions) in vitro and ex vivo as well. Therefore, CBD and possibly other modulators of the identified signaling pathways might be powerful novel tools in the treatment of acne vulgaris."