Aim

Evaluate the possible protective and therapeutic effects of Cannabis extract on dimethylnitrosamine (DMNA)-induced hepatocarcinogenicity in mice.

Methods

Seventy-five male mice were divided into five groups of 15 each: group I mice received corn oil only as the control group; group II mice were injected intraperitoneally with DMNA (10 μg/kg body weight) weekly for 12 weeks; group III mice were pretreated orally with cannabis extract (0.5 ml/kg body weight) every other day for two weeks before the injection of DMNA, and continued until the end of the experiment (12 weeks); group IV mice were treated orally with cannabis extract every other day simultaneously with DMNA injection and continued until the end of the experiment; group V mice were treated orally with cannabis extract every other day after receiving the last intraperitoneal injection of DMNA. A real time PCR was used to quantify telomerase reverse transcriptase and caspase-8 m-RNA expression level.