Although cannabinoids and terpenes are the predominant biomolecules in cannabis, phenolic compounds and flavonoids have also been detected.
To date, more than 560 secondary metabolites are known in cannabis. In most countries, anything below 0.3% Δ 9-tetrahydrocannabinol (THC) is classified as hemp and plants that produce 0.3% or greater are categorized as marijuana. Cannabis can be categorized based on taxonomic relationships or chemotype but is often divided into two main groups and regulated based on the level of psychoactive cannabinoids that are produced.
is a high-demand plant with a long history of medicinal, industrial, recreational, and agricultural uses. In the current review, in vitro culture and genetic engineering methods in cannabis along with other promising techniques such as morphogenic genes, new computational approaches, clustered regularly interspaced short palindromic repeats (CRISPR), CRISPR/Cas9-equipped Agrobacterium-mediated genome editing, and hairy root culture, that can help improve gene transformation and plant regeneration, as well as enhance secondary metabolite production, have been highlighted and discussed.Ĭannabis sativa L.
However, some obstacles such as the low rate of transgenic plant regeneration and low efficiency of secondary metabolite production in hairy root culture and cell suspension culture have restricted the application of these approaches in cannabis. Micropropagation, conservation, cell suspension culture, hairy root culture, polyploidy manipulation, and Agrobacterium-mediated gene transformation have been studied and used in cannabis. Due to its increasing demand in medicine, recreation, and industry, there is a dire need to apply new biotechnological tools to introduce new genotypes with desirable traits and enhanced secondary metabolite production. Since AMD has features of a chronic low-grade systemic inflammatory response, attention to the exact role of lutein in this disease has shifted from a local effect in the eye towards a possible systemic anti-inflammatory function.For a long time, Cannabis sativa has been used for therapeutic and industrial purposes. In vitro studies show that lutein suppresses NF kappa-B activation as well as the expression of iNOS and COX-2. Lutein diminishes the expression of various ocular inflammation models including endotoxin induced uveitis, laser induced choroidal neovascularization, streptozotocin induced diabetes and experimental retinal ischemia and reperfusion. Apart from beneficial effects of lutein intake on various visual function tests, recent findings show that lutein can affect immune responses and inflammation. Genes controlling SR-B1 and HDL levels predispose to AMD which supports the involvement of cholesterol/lutein transport pathways. In the blood lutein is transported via high-density lipoproteins (HDL). SR-B1 has recently been identified as a lutein binding protein in the retina and this same receptor plays a role in the selective uptake in the gut. Whether lutein intake reduces the risk of age related macular degeneration (AMD) or cataract formation is currently a strong matter of debate and abundant research is carried out to unravel the biological properties of the lutein molecule. Eliminating lutein from the diet of experimental animals results in early degenerative signs in the retina while patients with an acquired condition of macular pigment loss (Macular Telangiectasia) show serious visual handicap indicating the importance of macular pigment.
Traditionally lutein is characterized by its blue light filtering and anti-oxidant properties. Lutein is concentrated in the primate retina, where together with zeaxanthin it forms the macular pigment.