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Number of studies has been conducted to highlight the anti-inflammatory and immunosuppressive properties of cannabinoids and also their potentials for prevention of cartilage degradation. Various wound healing techniques can be used to investigate the mechanisms of chondrocyte repair in monolayer or 3 dimensional tissue. Therefore, we investigated the effect of two different concentrations (0.6 and 0.9μg/ml) of the synthetic cannabinoid R (+) WIN55, 212-2 on the wound healing of chondrocyte monolayers using a simple scratch assay model. WIN55, 212-2 was found to increase both the migration and proliferation of chondrocytes cultured in a chondrogenic media, with increase in the wound closure rate. These findings highlight the potential use of the synthetic cannabinoid for improving the rate of wound closure as well as acting as an anti-inflammatory agent, which could be used to enhance tissue engineering protocols aimed at cartilage repair.

Despite the ongoing political debate regarding the legality of medical marijuana, clinical investigations of the therapeutic use of cannabinoids are now more prevalent than at any time in history. Cannabinoids have been shown to have analgesic, anti-spasmodic, anticonvulsant, anti-tremor, anti-psychotic, anti-inflammatory, anti-oxidant, anti-emetic and appetite-stimulant properties. There are mainly two well known cannabinoid receptors, CB1 and CB2, located in the central and peripheral nervous systems as well as immune system, respectively. More recently, endocannabinoids (ligands) and their receptors have also been found in the skeleton which appears as the main body system physiologically regulated by CB2. The purpose of this investigation was to study the rate of wound healing using a scratch assay wound model created on MG63 bone cell-line monolayer and also to investigate proliferation and migration with and without the presence of cannabinoid WIN55, 212-2. Wounds were made (with average scratch width of 300|am±10-30|am SD, 1.7-5|am SEM) on confluent monolayers. After wounding, culture flasks were treated with the synthetic cannabinoid (WIN 55,212-2) with concentrations of 0.6|ag/ml and 0.9|ag/ml and a non-treated control and ethanol (as solvent). It was found that addition of synthetic cannabinoid closed the wound completely after 30 hours whereas the control showed no sign of complete wound closure after 30 hours with 25% of wound still remained open. The rate of wound closure was found to be higher with cannabinoid additions. These findings suggest the potential use of synthetic cannabinoid (WIN 55,212-2) for achieving complete wound closure at a faster rate.