A study has shown that essential hemp oil can successfully shrink cancerous lung tumours in mice and reduce chemotherapy-induced neuropathic pain, highlighting the anti-tumour properties of the cannabis plant.
Researchers at the China State Institute of Pharmaceutical Industry in Shanghai used an extraction technique to produce an essential oil from the flowers and leaves of hemp plants.
The hemp oil was analysed to determine the abundance of three terpenes present in many plants and commonly found in cannabis: β-caryophyllene, β-caryophyllene oxide and α-humulene. Researchers were interested in these organic compounds as previous studies have shown them to possess cancer-fighting and anti-cancer qualities.
Two groups of mice were given either a solution of hemp oil or a placebo. Then they were subjected to a series of tests to enable a comparison to be formed, allowing researchers to measure the effects of the hemp.
After the introduction of hemp oil and placebo, researchers monitored serum levels in both groups of mice to compare any analgesic effect. They found the serum levels of mice in the group who received essential hemp oil to be reduced. This result suggests hemp oil containing these terpenes could also help to reduce pain in humans living with neuropathic pain caused by chemotherapy cancer treatment.
The speed of cancerous tumour growth in mice with lung cancer was observed to slow in the hemp oil group, and levels relating to organ and immune system health were seen to rise when compared to the mice in the placebo group.
“These results reveal that HEO [hemp essential oil] plays a role not only in tumor chemotherapy induced peripheral neuropathy treatment, but also in anti-tumor treatment which offers key information for new strategies in cancer treatment and provides reference for the medicinal development of hemp,” the study said.
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