Challenges of cannabinoid delivery: how can nanomedicine help?

The rapidly shifting landscape and growing body of clinical evidence for the therapeutic efficacy of cannabinoids is due in part to new knowledge on cannabis molecular genetics, decoding its genome and the determination of CB1R and CB2R cannabinoid receptor crystal structures, along with their heteromeric complex formations. [...]evidence-based scientific knowledge supports novel approaches for cannabinoid-based nanoformulation and cannabis use in theranostic nanomedicine. [...]progress in clinical development of nanomedicines due in part to advances in nanotechnology is fueling the development of multifunctional nanocarrier strategies as drug-delivery systems (4,5). Many pharmaceutical products using strategies and devices incorporating nanovehicular drug carriers as nanoparticle-based medicines are already in clinical use (8). [...]nanotechnology may allow targeted delivery of cannabinoid formulations with the potential to elevate their use to scientifically validated nanotherapeutic and theranostic applications as the field of cannabis nanoscience matures. Nanoconjugation and encapsulation strategies have been demonstrated to be a strategy for improving drug delivery and therapeutic efficacy of poorly water-soluble drugs (7). [...]cannabinoid nanoformulations using nanoconjugation strategies for biomedical applications can be considered in attempts to overcome drug delivery challenges to improve bioavailability, safety, diagnosis and efficacy.