Effects of (-)-cannabidiol on human sebocytes. Homo sapiens

In the current study, we aimed at exploring the effects of the major non-psychotropic phytocannabinoid of Cannabis sativa, (-)-cannabidiol (CBD), on human sebaceous gland functions. We found that CBD behaved as a highly effective anti-acne agent, targeting all the three key, sebocyte-specific steps of the pathogenesis (i.e. without compromising viability or basal sebaceous lipid production, CBD normalized pro-acne agents-induced excessive lipid synthesis, reduced proliferation and exerted anti-inflammatory actions). The goal of the present microarray analyses was to identify signaling pathways and target genes being involved in mediating the above beneficial effects of CBD. Overall design: Microarray analyses were performed by using three independent sets of control (vehicle-treated) and CBD-treated (10 μM, 24-hr) human, immortalized SZ95 sebocytes. The first two sets of the samples were analyzed by two-color microarrays (“rep1” and “rep2”). Later on, the RNA from the second sample set was used for the “rep2-1” hybridization (techical repeat). Finally, we analyzed the third (biological) sample set by using one-color microarray (“rep3”).