Sunday Goods is a medicinal cannabis store in Phoenix that gives the customer the terpene profile. Let’s take an example:
Now ‘n Later
CANNABINOIDS 20.5%
THCa 19.4%
Δ9-THC 1.1%
CBDa LOQ
TERPENES 1.67%
β-Myrcene 1.1%
α-Pinene 0.2%
δ-Limonene 0.1%
p-Cymene 0.1%
Terpinolene 0.1%
If you follow the links on the www.Sundaygoods.com website, you’ll get a really good introduction to all of these terpenes. Let’s take a look at recent scientific reports that go along with the Sunday Goods write ups….
β-Myrcene
Ciftci and other scientists at the University of Inonu in Malatya, Turkey studied the affect of β-myrcene on a mouse ischemia-reperfusion injury stroke model. The Wikipedia link does a nice job of covering the reactive oxygen and nitrogen species generated when brain oxygen flow is shut off and then reestablished. Ciftci and coworkers found that mycene given intraperitoneally after the stroke like injury boosted the anti-oxidant defense of glutathione, superoxide dismutase, and glutathione peroxidase concentrations. Obviously Sunday Goods is not going to tell customers, “Have a stroke, smoke a joint.” A follow up study with β-myrcene by inhalation would be nice. Does β-myrcene protect our anti-oxidant defense when we are simply stressed out?
α-Pinene
Rahbar and other Persian scientists induced pain the mouths of rats by injecting capsaicin, the active ingredient in chili peppers. They found that α-Pinene injected in the brains of these rats reduced the gum pain. They concluded that pharmacological action involved GABAA and μ-opioid receptors.
Limonene
Scientists at John Hopkins University have started recruiting patients for a clinical trial to test inhaled δ-Limonene as a means of taking the anxiety out of inhaled THC.
p-Cymene
Brazilian scientists Santos and coworkers injected rat hind paws with cancer cells to induce cancer pain. They found that p-cymene blocked descending and ascending pain pathways via calcium channel inhibition.
Terpinolene
Japanese scientists Ito and Ito (2013) studied the structure aspects of inhaled terpinoline needed to have sedative action in mice. A double bond in the side-chain or pi bonds in the six-membered ring play important roles in the sedative effect.
Sunday Goods has done a splendid job educating customers on the magnificent properties of terpenes. This blog is simply a follow up with scientific literature that doesn’t even begin to scratch the surface.
Ciftci O, Oztanir MN, Cetin A.(2014) Neuroprotective effects of β-myrcene following global cerebral ischemia/reperfusion-mediated oxidative and neuronal damage in a C57BL/J6 mouse. Neurochem Res.39(9):1717-23.
Ito K, Ito M. (2013) The sedative effect of inhaled terpinolene in mice and its structure-activity relationships. J Nat Med. 67(4):833-7.
Rahbar I, Abbasnejad M, Haghani J, Raoof M, Kooshki R, Esmaeili-Mahani S. (2019) The effect of central administration of alpha-pinene on capsaicin-induced dental pulp nociception. Int Endod J. 52(3):307-317.
Santos WBR, Melo MAO, Alves RS, de Brito RG, Rabelo TK, Prado LDS, Silva VKDS, Bezerra DP, de Menezes-Filho JER, Souza DS, de Vasconcelos CML, Scotti L, Scotti MT, Lucca Júnior W, Quintans-Júnior LJ, Guimarães AG. (2019) p-Cymene attenuates cancer pain via inhibitory pathways and modulation of calcium currents. Phytomedicine. 61:152836
