Submitted on November 10, 2007
Accepted on January 27, 2008
Endocannabinoid Effects on Immune Cells: Implications for Inflammatory Liver Diseases
Pal Pacher1* and Bin Gao1
1 NIAAA, NIH, Bethesda, Maryland, United States
* To whom correspondence should be addressed. E-mail: pacher{at}mail.nih.gov.
Recent studies have implicated dysregulation of the endocannabinoid system (ECS) in various liver diseases and its complications (e.g. hepatitis, fibrosis, cirrhosis, cirrhotic cardiomyopathy and ischemia/reperfusion), and demonstrated that its modulation by either cannabinoid 2(CB2) receptor agonists or CB1 antagonists may be of significant therapeutic benefits. This review is aimed to focus on the triggers and sources of endocannabinoids during liver inflammation, and on the novel role of CB2 receptors in the interplay between the activated endothelium and various inflammatory cells (leukocytes, lymphocytes, etc.), which play pivotal role in the early development and progression of inflammatory and other liver diseases.
