Talk:Entourage effect

Marketing reference

http://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=2320657

Off base on the lead

The lead is off base, because although the psychoactive effects are one area where the entourage effect is attributed, the main point is whole plant medicine and whole range of beneficial effects, as opposed to single molecule approaches focused on single focused efficacy with side effects. It's a stigmatized misrepresentation to cast psychoactive as a negative side effect, when it's the whole entourage effect of plant based medicine where the thrust of the term is employed. So to resolve this, the lead should have sources and be changed. Zulu Papa 5 * (talk) 19:56, 30 March 2018 (UTC)

In common usage, the term "entourage effect" seems to largely refer to the modificatory effect cannabis congeners seem to exert on its overall psychoactive/therapeutic effects/profile. The phrase seems to sometimes be independently used as a neologism in other contexts, both in regard to the cannabinoid system (e.g. N. Murataeva, 2016), and other physiological systems. The opening sentence is a composite of the definitions ambiguously expressed in the first three sources, and that was hinted at in the original article (the rewrite of which I undertook as it was written somewhat incoherently and haphazardly with direct quotes from (sometimes primary/basic research) sources that did not seem to follow an encyclopedic style). To wit;

"... if you take pure, isolated delta-9-tetrahydrocannabinol, or THC—the main psychoactive ingredient in marijuana—you’ll experience “a high that has no specific character, so that seems boring,” ... What gives cannabis “character,” in Holmes’s view, are the hundreds of other chemicals it contains. These include THC’s cousin cannabinoids such as cannabidiol, along with other compounds called terpenes and flavonoids. Whereas terpenes are generally credited with giving pot its varied fragrances—limonene, for example, imparts a snappy, citrusy perfume—the cannabis industry and some researchers have espoused the controversial idea that such compounds can enhance or alter THC’s psychoactive and medicinal properties. This so-called “entourage effect” refers to this scrum of compounds supposedly working in concert to create what Chris Emerson describes as “the sum of all the parts that leads to the magic or power of cannabis.” ... The idea that botanical marijuana creates a synergistic chemical effect ... There are a few arguments that entourage effect proponents use to bolster the theory: For one, non-THC cannabinoids do have some neurochemical action as they can affect—often in different ways—cannabinoid receptors in the central nervous system. ... Still, there is no hard evidence that the entourage effect is real. Double-blind clinical trials, the gold standard for research studies in medicine, have never been conducted to investigate the effects of marijuana’s terpenes or its cannabinoids other than THC. ... The entourage effect idea has firmly taken root in the cannabis industry and among consumers. Marijuana dispensaries have begun listing and advertising various cannabinoid ratios and providing detailed terpene profiles in certain strains and products. ... Haney says she has only seen evidence against the entourage effect. In recent studies (including Haney’s own) directly comparing the effects of plant marijuana with oral THC formulations such as Marinol and Syndros, the results suggest there is little—if any—difference between them. ... " [1]

"The entourage effect is the term used to describe enhancement of efficacy, with related improvement in overall therapeutic effectiveness, derived from combining phytocannabinoids and other plant-derived molecules. ... Putting these pharmacologic, clinical, and societal issues together, the direction for the future resides in the development of orally administered, highly bioavailable, non-psychoactive phytocannabinoid products that also take advantage of the entourage effect, to provide the millions of people living with debilitating pain a comparatively safe and effective form of relief." [2]

"Tetrahydrocannabinol (THC) has been the primary focus of cannabis research since 1964, when Raphael Mechoulam isolated and synthesized it. More recently, the synergistic contributions of cannabidiol to cannabis pharmacology and analgesia have been scientifically demonstrated. Other phytocannabinoids, including tetrahydrocannabivarin, cannabigerol and cannabichromene, exert additional effects of therapeutic interest. Innovative conventional plant breeding has yielded cannabis chemotypes expressing high titres of each component for future study. This review will explore another echelon of phytotherapeutic agents, the cannabis terpenoids: limonene, myrcene, α-pinene, linalool, β-caryophyllene, caryophyllene oxide, nerolidol and phytol. Terpenoids share a precursor with phytocannabinoids, and are all flavour and fragrance components common to human diets that have been designated Generally Recognized as Safe by the US Food and Drug Administration and other regulatory agencies. Terpenoids are quite potent, and affect animal and even human behaviour when inhaled from ambient air at serum levels in the single digits ng·mL−1. They display unique therapeutic effects that may contribute meaningfully to the entourage effects of cannabis-based medicinal extracts. Particular focus will be placed on phytocannabinoid-terpenoid interactions that could produce synergy with respect to treatment of pain, inflammation, depression, anxiety, addiction, epilepsy, cancer, fungal and bacterial infections (including methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus). Scientific evidence is presented for non-cannabinoid plant components as putative antidotes to intoxicating effects of THC that could increase its therapeutic index. Methods for investigating entourage effects in future experiments will be proposed. " [3]

I propose a stripped-down opening sentence that encompasses/allows for all these interpretations, e.g.:

"The term entourage effect generally refers to a concept and proposed mechanism by which largely non-psychoactive compounds present in cannabis modulate the overall psychoactive, physiological, and therapeutic effects of the plant.[1][2][3]"Jay Hodec (talk) 23:24, 30 March 2018 (UTC)

Changes made 6/7/19

The definition of the "entourage effect" was modified to more clearly differentiate its original usage with regards to endocannabinoid behavior from its common current usage as an expectation of benefit from the polypharmacy of crude cannabis extracts.EditorFormerlyKnownAsPuddin' (talk) 14:56, 7 June 2019 (UTC)

New section on sativa vs indica

This entire new section is a bit of a brain dump. The structural differences between sativa and indica (although there is little use of these distinctions in the modern scientific literature which prefers to refer to different chemovars as opposed to the imaginary species distinction) have nothing to do with the entourage effect. Neither do simple lists of different cannabinoid components or ratios found in different plants. Also, claims of particular chemovars having unique activities on account of the entourage effect should be sourced to primary studies or systematic reviews, not to advocacy handbooks. However, the uncompelling nature of such claims have been laid out by the review referenced in the "criticism" section of the article and this should be mentioned along with any suggestions of remarkable entourage effects.EditorFormerlyKnownAsPuddin' (talk) 04:42, 10 August 2021 (UTC)

Conversion of CBD to THC with heat

The text on how CBD may be converted to CBD isn't pertinent to the proposed entourage effect and is really just a random bit of trivial information in the context of the article. I'll rework the section later when I get some time. EditorFormerlyKnownAsPuddin' (talk) 19:22, 1 January 2023 (UTC)