Crohn’s disease is a chronic inflammatory disease of the gastrointestinal tract which might lead to progressive bowel damage and disability. Novel insights about cytokines, and chemokines implicated in disease pathogenesis, have significantly expanded therapeutic options.

The cause of Crohn’ disease is widely accepted to be multifactorial, with hypotheses that environmental factors trigger inappropriate activation of the mucosal immune system in a genetically susceptible host. An impaired intestinal epithelial barrier is recognized as a key pathogenic factor with inflammatory infiltrates characterized by the Th1/Th17 response and the production of various proinflammatory cytokines (TNF-α, IFN-γ, IL-1, IL-6, IL-12, IL17a and IL-23) as well as impaired regulatory T-cell activity. Several studies in animal models have documented the effects of cannabinoids in bowel inflammation, primarily attributed to the main compounds of Cannabis: D9-tetrahydrocannabinol and cannabidiol. In this experimental work we treated human colon cell lines with four mixtures of these two phytocannabinoids and cytokines release was evaluated. Moreover, a fluid dynamic culture of colon cell lines model, which mimics human colon tissue, was used to further confirm the phytocannabinoids’ role in cytokines release. Preliminary data support the beneficial effects of phytocannabinoids in reducing inflammation in preclinical models of human Crohn’s disease.