A substance found in the cannabis plant may help the body to alleviate an allergic skin disease, an international group of researchers has said.
Allergic contact dermatitis is caused by a reaction to many difference substances which, when they come into direct contact with the skin, can product a severe rash.
Around five per cent of men and 11 per cent of women suffer from the condition, but researchers hope that cannabis-like compounds may one day be used to treat the symptoms.
Reporting in the journal Science, researchers from the University of Bonn reveal that the skin disease could be treated through the endocannabinoid system, which consists of two naturally-occurring cannabis-like components, their receptors and various enzymes.
The system has previously been shown to be involved in many physiological processes and researchers have now discovered that administering a cannabis-derived substance called tetrahydrocannabinol (THC) to experimental animals helped to reduce their reaction to allergens.
They therefore hope that new therapeutic treatments may be found by developing compounds based on substances produced by the cannabis plant.
A substance found in the cannabis plant may help the body to alleviate an allergic skin disease, an international group of researchers has said.
