Book Review Cite This: J. Nat. Prod. 2017, 80, 3080-3080
pubs.acs.org/jnp
Review of Cannabinoids in Nature and Medicine This text is not meant for the casual reader, but more for those wishing to have a fuller understanding of the biochemistry of cannabinoids in both plants and animals. This is reflected in the book’s pricing and would be ideal for a shared laboratory reference. For those intending on basic cannabis research or planning experiments or who are interested in the clinical and basic science forefront of cannabis bioactivity, this is an ideal place to begin and/or find additional primary literature.
Cannabinoids in Nature and Medicine. Edited by Didier M. Lambert. Verlag Helvetic Chimica Acta and Wiley-VCH, Zurich and Weinheim. 2009. Hardcover, 356 pp. $217.00. ISBN 978-390639-056-7.
C
annabis (Cannabis spp., Cannabaceae) has a prominent place in human culture and history throughout the world. As of March 2017, recreational cannabis is legal in eight states and Washington D.C., and over half of the country (28 states) allows the medicinal use of the plant. Cannabis regulation across the U.S. is changing rapidly, and the industry behind the plant has burgeoned. A welcome aspect of this turning tide is the opening of cannabis to more extensive clinical and basic research. Thus, a book like Cannabinoids in Nature and Medicine is particularly timely for those beginning or considering cannabis research or are interested in the biochemistry and bioactivity of the plant. Although published in 2009, this text should be of particular use to plant natural product researchers worldwide. The introduction provides an overview of cannabinoid receptors and the endocannabinoid system. This chapter has highlighted boxes to emphasis concepts, as well as figures displaying signaling and classical and nonclassical cannabinoids. Despite this clarity, the introduction might have been longer and more descriptive, particularly as it sets the stage for the book’s conceptual organization. In general, the organization of this book might have benefitted from additional, more specific parts to help the reader with categories of subject matter. As is stands, this book is organized into two parts, entitled “The Phytocannabinoids: The Long Journey from the Plant to the Humans” and “The Endocannabinoid System: The Short Journey from the Humans to the Plants”. Part I contains chapters on the botanical and ethnobotanical history of cannabis (History of Cannabis and Its Preparations in Saga, Science and Sobriquet), reviews on the bioactive compounds (On the Pharmacological Properties of Δ9-Tetrahydrocannabinol (THC) and Cannabidiol-Recent Advances), and summaries of bioactivity (The Toxicology of Cannabis and Cannabis Prohibition and Cannabis, Pain, and Sleep: Lessons from Therapeutic Clinical Trials of Sativex, a Cannabis-Based Medicine), among others. Part 2 mainly contains chapters addressing the endocannabinoid system (Biosynthetic Pathways of the Endocannabinoid Anandamide) and related biochemistry (The N-Acylethanolamine-Mediated Regulatory Pathway in Plants). The graphics in this text are solid, with clear compound structures, reproduced and original data figures and tables, and even a detailed botanical illustration in the chaper Discovery and Isolation of Anandamide and Other Endocannabinoids. The use of color is especially eye catching and adds to the presentation of graphs; color photos appear liberally, and particularly lovely is a reproduction of a Syrian commemorative stamp in the chapter History of Cannabis and Its Preparations in Saga, Science and Sobriquet. This book also would have benefitted from a small glossary. © 2017 American Chemical Society and American Society of Pharmacognosy
Amy C. Keller
■
University of Colorado School of Medicine, Aurora, Colorado, United States
AUTHOR INFORMATION
Notes
The author declares no competing financial interest.
Published: October 24, 2017 3080
DOI: 10.1021/acs.jnatprod.7b00330 J. Nat. Prod. 2017, 80, 3080−3080
