Drug – bio-affecting and body treating compositions – Plant material or plant extract of undetermined constitution... – Containing or obtained from a seed or nut
Reexamination Certificate
2000-01-24
2002-06-11
Tate, Christopher R. (Department: 1651)
Drug, bio-affecting and body treating compositions
Plant material or plant extract of undetermined constitution...
Containing or obtained from a seed or nut
C424S725000
Reexamination Certificate
active
06403126
ABSTRACT:
FIELD OF THE INVENTION
The following invention relates generally to the field of methods of chemical purification. More specifically, the present invention relates to a method of producing natural health or medicinal products from Cannabis species, for example, industrial hemp.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
Recently, public interest in Cannabis as medicine has been growing, based in no small part on the fact that Cannabis has long been considered to have medicinal properties, ranging from treatment of cramps, migraines, convulsions, appetite stimulation and attenuation of nausea and vomiting. In fact, a report issued by the National Academy of Sciences' Institute of Medicine indicated that the active components of Cannabis appear to be useful in treating pain, nausea, AIDS-related weight loss or “wasting”, muscle spasms in multiple sclerosis as well as other problems. Advocates of medical marijuana argue that it is also useful for glaucoma, Parkinson's disease, Huntington's disease, migraines, epilepsy and Alzheimer's disease.
Marijuana refers to varieties of Cannabis having a high content of &Dgr;
9
-tetrahydrocannabinol (&Dgr;
9
-THC), which is the psychoactive ingredient of marijuana whereas industrial hemp refers to varieties of the Cannabis plant that have a low content of &Dgr;
9
-THC.
The controversy regarding the medicinal use of marijuana is centered not only on what is delivered but on how it is delivered. Specifically, the primary method used to deliver marijuana into a patient's system is by smoking the marijuana; however, smoking increases an individual's risk for cancer, lung damage and emphysema. Furthermore, as discussed above, marijuana does contain high levels of a psychoactive drug, &Dgr;
9
-THC. As such, there has been considerable debate as to whether or not the potential health benefits of smoking marijuana outweigh the health benefits.
However, it is of note that &Dgr;
9
-THC is only one of a family of about 60 bi- and tri-cyclic compounds named cannabinoids. These natural products usually contain a 1,1′-di-methyl-pyrane ring, a variedly derivatized aromatic ring and a variedly unsaturated cyclohexyl ring, and include for example the non-psychoactive cannabinol, cannabidiol and cannabinolic acid. These latter compounds have been suggested to contribute to some of the beneficial effects of Cannabis, such as cell protection, immunosuppression and ant-inflammatory properties. This suggests that these non-psychoactive cannabinoids recognize the same cellular receptors as &Dgr;
9
-THC but, due to structural differences, do not have the same side effects.
In addition, Cannabis species also contain a related class of compounds, the cannflavins. These natural products usually contain a 1,4-pyrone ring fused to a variedly derivatized aromatic ring and linked to a second variedly derivatized aromatic ring, and include for example the non-psychoactive cannflavins A and B. These compounds have been suggested to contribute some of the beneficial effects of Cannabis, such as analgesia and anti-inflammatory properties, and as such are considerably more effective than aspirin.
Clearly, a process is needed for preparing natural health products containing the non-restricted compounds present in marijuana (and also in industrial hemp) to be used for medicinal purposes.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
According to a first aspect of the invention, there is provided a method of preparing a Cannabis extract comprising:
harvesting Cannabis composed of seed and chaff;
separating the chaff from the seed;
extracting the chaff with a solvent, thereby producing an extract;
passing the extract, if desired, over a chromatographic column arranged to fractionate &Dgr;
9
-THC out of the extract; and
collecting the fractions lacking &Dgr;
9
-THC from the column, thereby producing a whole hemp extract without the &Dgr;
9
-THC.
The chaff may be green or dried and the chaff may be ground prior to extraction.
The collected fractions may be concentrated.
The Cannabis may be, for example, industrial hemp.
The solvent may be an organic solvent, selected from the group consisting of: a petroleum derived hydrocarbon, for example, toluene, trimethylpentane; a low molecular weight alcohol, for example, ethanol; a low molecular weight chlorinated hydrocarbon, for example, chloroform and dichloromethane; or a supercritical fluid such as CO
2
with or without an organic solvent modifier. Extraction may also occur using a technique referred to as accelerated solvent extraction or may use subcritical water.
According to a second aspect of the invention, there is provided a hemp extract isolated according to the above-described method.
According to a third aspect of the invention, there is provided a pharmaceutical composition comprising the hemp extract according to the abovedescribed method.
According to a fourth aspect of the invention, there is provided a method of extracting a cannabinoid, cannflavin or essential oil from Cannabis comprising:
harvesting Cannabis composed of seed and chaff;
separating the chaff from the seed;
extracting the chaff with a solvent, thereby producing an extract;
passing the extract over a chromatographic column arranged to fractionate the cannabinoid, cannflavin or essential oil of interest out of the extract; and
collecting the fractions containing the cannabinoid, cannflavin or essential oil of interest from the column, producing a purified cannabinoid, cannflavin or essential oil. The cannflavins may be cannflavin A or B or other related cannflavin-type compounds.
The cannabinoid may be selected from the group consisting of: cannabidiol (CBD); cannabinol (CBN); cannabigerol (CBG); cannabichromene (CBC); cannabidivarol (CBDV); tetrahydrocannabidiol (THCBD); tetrahydrocannabigerol (THCBG); tetrahydrocannabichromene (THCBC); tetrahydrocannabidivarol (THCBDV); A
8
-THC; the carboxylic acid precursors of the foregoing compounds; and related naturally occurring compounds and their derivatives.
The chaff may be fresh or dried, and the chaff may be ground prior to extraction.
The collected fractions may be concentrated.
The Cannabis may be for example industrial hemp.
The solvent may be an organic solvent, selected from the group consisting of: a petroleum derived hydrocarbon, for example, toluene, trimethylpentane; a low molecular weight alcohol, for example, ethanol; a low molecular weight chlorinated hydrocarbon, for example, chloroform and dichloromethane; or a supercritical fluid such as CO
2
with or without an organic solvent modifier. Extraction may also occur using a technique referred to as accelerated solvent extraction or may use subcritical water.
According to a fifth aspect of the invention, there is provided a purified cannabinoid, cannflavin, or essential oil prepared according to the above-described method.
According to a sixth aspect of the invention, there is provided a pharmaceutical composition comprising the purified cannabinoid, cannflavin or essential oil prepared according the above-described method.
The invention will now be described by way of examples, although the invention is not in any way limited to the examples described herein.
DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS
Unless defined otherwise, all technical and scientific terms used herein have the same meaning as commonly understood by one of ordinary skill in the art to which the invention belongs. Although any methods and materials similar or equivalent to those described herein can be used in the practice or testing of the present invention, the preferred methods and materials are now described. All publications mentioned hereunder are incorporated herein by reference.
Definitions
As used herein, “industrial hemp” refers to varieties of the Cannabis plant that have a low content of &Dgr;
9
-tetrahydrocannabinol (&Dgr;
9
-THC).
As used herein, “chaff” refers to the chopped plant material remaining after the seed of the hemp has been harvested and separated by the process known as threshing.
As used herein, “supercritical fluid” refers to materials that are under
Sarna Leonard P.
Webster G. R. Barrie
Battison Adrian D.
Dupuis Ryan W.
Tate Christopher R.
Websar Innovations Inc.
Williams Michael R.
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