SCIENCE
CANNABIS AND HEMP OIL Are they found in SKINCARE? By Terry Everitt PARTS OF THE PERSONAL CARE INDUSTRY is always on the prowl for the latest thing and keen to be on the latest trend immediately, so, what of cannabis in skincare? Is this another marketing-driven situation or is there science that makes it possible for the skin to have a big relax due to applied cannabis? In his usual manner, Terry Everitt looks at the science of cosmetic chemistry to determine what is real and what is marketing hype. While there certainly is a marketing slant to the cannabis in skincare, the science shows that cannabidiol, (not cannabis) holds great promise. Cannabis (marijuana) has long been used for recreational purposes (I am not referring to most of you, about other people!) and even longer perhaps in the healing arts. It must be made clear that for skincare, cannabis (as you may know it) is not used. In fact, there is nothing illegal about cannabidiol in skincare use as we are not using any of the psycho-active properties of the cannabis resin.
THE PLANT
The Cannabis sativa and Cannabis indica plants are two common species used; C. sativa has comparatively higher delta-9-tetrahydrocannabinol (THC) concentration (the stuff recreational users want) while C. indica has comparatively higher cannabidiol concentration (this is the stuff we want in skincare). The cannabis plant is called an annual, dioecious, and anemophilous (yep, even I went to the dictionary for that) flowering plant that belongs to the Cannabaceae family and is native to Central and South Asia. The plant has over 400 compounds isolated, including more than 60 cannabinoids. Cannabinoids are classified into three subtypes: •
Endocannabinoids, which is actually naturally present in the human body
•
Phytocannabinoids (present in cannabis plant) and
•
Synthetic cannabinoids (produced chemically).
There has been a multitude of studies undertaken on cannabis components affecting the skin – both the dermatological and nondermatological literature has many examples. Sadly, the differences in methodological issues such as an inadequate description of allocation, concealment and blinding inaccuracies, varying cannabinoid formulations
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and doses, small sample sizes and other variables make it difficult to generalise on the outcome effectiveness. Many generalisations have been made, however, complimentary and substantiating studies are few.
THE NEED TO BE SPECIFIC
As an example of the multitude complexities involved, it is not enough to talk about cannabis, phytocannabinoids, or cannabinoids (as there are a few such as cannabidiol (CBD) or cannabichromene (CBC)). Since Tubaro et al. (2010) showed that it was the terpenoid moiety of phytocannabinoids was more important than those in the alkyl residue, with the highest potency consistently associated to compounds having a tricyclic skeleton, we need to get closer to the actual molecule differences. Maybe I should have given you the short story - just saying that ‘phytocannabinoid is studied’ does not mean much, as it is the shape of the many molecules that make the difference. It is this basic fact that has been ignored and has confused so many.
RECEPTORS
We have two types of cannabinoids receptors, which are G-protein-receptors, CB1 and CB2, (the CB is short for cannabinoid) and they can be found all over your body — including the skin, with different cannabinoids binding to these receptors with varying degrees of strength. CB1 expresses in the central nervous system, and tissues and cells of the immune system, with CB2, expressed almost everywhere including neuronal tissue. It is interesting that cannabinoids have been shown to attach to other receptors such as TRPV-1, (Transient Receptor Potential cation channel subfamily V member 1), which is a ligand-gated, non-selective ion channel in Langerhans cells, endothelial and epithelial cells, epidermal and hair follicle keratinocytes as well as in smooth muscle cells. While still in the early stages of figuring out how specific cannabinoids interact with the skin, there is already a lot known. There is at least one cannabinoid in the cannabis plant that can be particularly effective: Cannabidiol (CBD), which is a non-psychoactive cannabinoid found in both cannabis and industrial hemp. CBD, legal when extracted from industrial hemp, and widely considered to be high in antioxidants and is known to ease dry skin, is the mainstream ingredient used in