Cannabinoids. 2014. illus. 320 p. gr8vo. Hardcover.

Cannabinoids' is a broad term covering a group of natural products from Cannabis sativa, one of which locks on to specific receptors - protein molecules on the surface of cells - known as cannabinoid receptors. Over the past decades scientists have found that cannabinoid receptors and their endogenous ligands, the endocannabinoids, are involved in a vast array of physiological functions, including helping to control brain activity, energy metabolism, heart function, the immune system and even reproduction.

This book assembles contributions frominternational experts to provide the definitive guide to what continues to be a rapidly developing research field. After an introductory historical chapter, the book continues by looking at the biochemical, genetic and molecular elements of cannabinoids, followed by chapters covering their role in health and disease. The final chapter outlines the need for a new nomenclature to reflect the complex and multi-disciplinary nature of this area.

From the contents: List of Contributors/ Preface / From THC to new therapeutic drugs passing through receptors and endogenous ligands / Cannabinoid intracellular signalling: the long travel from binding sites to biological effects /Cannabinoid biochemistry: what do we know after 50 years? /Cannabinoid receptor genetics and how it changed our knowledge of mammalian physiology / Cannabinoids, endocannabinoids and stress / Cannabinoids and the brain: new hopes for new therapies /Abdominal Cannabinoids: Gut, Liver and Fat /Fifty years of cannabinoid research and the need of a new nomenclature /Index.