Potential of dietary hemp and cannabinoids to modulate immune response to enhance health and performance in animals: opportunities and challenges

Faiz-Ul Hassan; Chunjie Liu; Maryam Mehboob; Rana Muhammad Bilal; Muhammad Asif Arain; Faisal Siddique; Fengming Chen; Yuying Li; Jingmeng Zhang; Pengjun Shi; Biguang Lv; Qian Lin

doi:10.3389/fimmu.2023.1285052

Potential of dietary hemp and cannabinoids to modulate immune response to enhance health and performance in animals: opportunities and challenges

Front Immunol. 2023 Dec 4:14:1285052. doi: 10.3389/fimmu.2023.1285052. eCollection 2023.

Authors

Affiliations

¹ Institute of Bast Fiber Crops, Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences, Changsha, China.
² Faculty of Animal Production and Technology, Cholistan University of Veterinary and Animal Sciences, Bahawalpur, Pakistan.
³ Department of Zoology, Wildlife and Fisheries, University of Agriculture, Faisalabad, Pakistan.
⁴ Faculty of Veterinary and Animal Sciences, Lasbela University of Agriculture, Water and Marine Sciences, Uthal, Balochistan, Pakistan.
⁵ Hunan Provincial Key Laboratory of the TCM Agricultural Biogenomics, Changsha Medical University, Changsha, China.

^# Contributed equally.

Abstract

Cannabinoids are a group of bioactive compounds abundantly present in Cannabis sativa plant. The active components of cannabis with therapeutic potential are known as cannabinoids. Cannabinoids are divided into three groups: plant-derived cannabinoids (phytocannabinoids), endogenous cannabinoids (endocannabinoids), and synthetic cannabinoids. These compounds play a crucial role in the regulation various physiological processes including the immune modulation by interacting with the endocannabinoid system (A complex cell-signaling system). Cannabinoid receptor type 1 (CB1) stimulates the binding of orexigenic peptides and inhibits the attachment of anorexigenic proteins to hypothalamic neurons in mammals, increasing food intake. Digestibility is unaffected by the presence of any cannabinoids in hemp stubble. Endogenous cannabinoids are also important for the peripheral control of lipid processing in adipose tissue, in addition to their role in the hypothalamus regulation of food intake. Regardless of the kind of synaptic connection or the length of the transmission, endocannabinoids play a crucial role in inhibiting synaptic transmission through a number of mechanisms. Cannabidiol (CBD) mainly influences redox equilibrium through intrinsic mechanisms. Useful effects of cannabinoids in animals have been mentioned e.g., for disorders of the cardiovascular system, pain treatment, disorders of the respiratory system or metabolic disorders. Dietary supplementation of cannabinoids has shown positive effects on health, growth and production performance of small and large animals. Animal fed diet supplemented with hemp seeds (180 g/day) or hemp seed cake (143 g/kg DM) had achieved batter performance without any detrimental effects. But the higher level of hemp or cannabinoid supplementation suppress immune functions and reduce productive performance. With an emphasis on the poultry and ruminants, this review aims to highlight the properties of cannabinoids and their derivatives as well as their significance as a potential feed additive in their diets to improve the immune status and health performance of animals.

Keywords: animals; anti-oxidant; cannabinoids; hemp seed; immunomodulation; therapeutic potential.

Publication types

Review
Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

Animals
Cannabinoids* / pharmacology
Cannabinoids* / therapeutic use
Cannabis* / chemistry
Diet
Endocannabinoids
Immunity
Mammals

Substances

Cannabinoids
Endocannabinoids

Grants and funding

The author(s) declare financial support was received for the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article. This research was funded by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (32102594), the Science and Technology Innovation Program of Hunan Province (2022RC1160), the Science Research Project of Hunan Provincial Department of Education (22A0661).