Although it was discovered early on, CBD has become a major area of research only in recent years. In particular, its biological Table 1 Anti-inflammatory actions of CBD Response Model Reference Reduces immune response Rats subjected to pneumococcal meningitis 59 Prevents experimental colitis Murine model of colitis 52 Reduced iNOS and IL-1b expression Mouse model of Alzheimer’s disease 31,43 Reduces b-amyloid-induced neuroinflammation Cultured astrocytes 43 TNF-a and IL-1b levels reduced Murine collagen-induced arthritis 9 Decreases in PGE2 plasma levels Carrageenan paw injection in the rat 28 Reduced the extent of colitis TNB mouse model of colitis 53 Inhibition of neutrophil chemotaxis Human neutrophil migration 54 Effects on NF-jB, MAPK, ICAM-1, VCAM-1, TNF-a Mouse model of type I diabetic cardiomyopathy 55 Enhanced IFN-c and IL-2 production Mouse splenocytes 57 Exacerbates LPS-induced pulmonary inflammation Pulmonary inflammation in C57BL/6 mice 58 Reduced the TNF-a level in the frontal cortex Pneumococcal meningitis in rats 59 Decreases hepatic ischemia-reperfusion (I/R) injury Mouse model of hepatic I/R 61 Reduced LPS-induced increase in TNFa and COX-2 Mouse model of sepsis-related encephalitis 62 Reduced effects of autoimmune encephalomyelitis Immunized C57BL/6 mice 34,63 Reduces inflammation in acute lung injury (ALI) Mouse model of lipopolysaccharide-induced ALI 64,18 1384 S. Burstein / Bioorg. Med. Chem. 23 (2015) 1377–1385 actions are a topic of many interesting reports that suggest possible therapeutic applications. Included are its anti inflammatory actions in a variety of preclinical models (Table 1). Some examples are experimental colitis, collagen-induced arthritis, b-amyloid-induced neuroinflammation, neutrophil chemotaxis, hepatic ischemiareperfusion (I/R) injury, autoimmune encephalomyelitis, acute lung injury (ALI), etc. These and others need to be pursued in human trials with a view toward clinical applications where CBD’s absence of psychotropic effects and other adverse events offers a major advantage over other cannabinoids