There is a significant global upsurge in the number and proportion of older persons in the population. With this comes an increasing prevalence of age-related conditions which pose a major challenge to healthcare systems. The development of anti-ageing treatments may help meet this challenge by targeting the ageing process which is a common denominator to many health problems. Cannabis-like compounds (cannabinoids) are reported to improve quality of life and general well-being in human trials, and there is increasing preclinical research highlighting that they have anti-ageing activity. Moreover, preclinical evidence suggests that endogenous cannabinoids regulate ageing processes. Here, we review the anti-ageing effects of the cannabinoids in various model systems, including the most extensively studied nematode model, Caenorhabditis elegans. These studies highlight that the cannabinoids lengthen healthspan and lifespan, with emerging evidence that they may also hinder the development of cellular senescence. The non-psychoactive cannabinoid cannabidiol (CBD) shows particular promise, with mechanistic studies demonstrating it may work through autophagy induction and activation of antioxidative systems. Furthermore, CBD improves healthspan parameters such as diminishing age-related behavioural dysfunction in models of both healthy and accelerated ageing. Translation into mammalian systems provides an important next step. Moreover, looking beyond CBD, future studies could probe the multitude of other cannabis constituents for their anti-ageing activity.

全球老年人口的数量和比例显着上升。随之而来的是与年龄相关的疾病的日益流行，这对医疗保健系统构成了重大挑战。抗衰老治疗的发展可能有助于通过针对衰老过程来应对这一挑战，而衰老过程是许多健康问题的共同点。据报道，在人体试验中，类大麻化合物（大麻素）可以改善生活质量和总体福祉，并且越来越多的临床前研究强调它们具有抗衰老活性。此外，临床前证据表明内源性大麻素可调节衰老过程。在这里，我们回顾了大麻素在各种模型系统中的抗衰老作用，包括研究最广泛的线虫模型——秀丽隐杆线虫。这些研究强调，大麻素可以延长健康寿命和寿命，新的证据表明它们还可能阻碍细胞衰老的发展。非精神活性大麻素大麻二酚 (CBD) 显示出特别的前景，机制研究表明它可能通过自噬诱导和抗氧化系统激活发挥作用。此外，CBD 还可以改善健康寿命参数，例如减少健康和加速衰老模型中与年龄相关的行为功能障碍。转化为哺乳动物系统提供了重要的下一步。此外，除了 CBD 之外，未来的研究还可以探讨多种其他大麻成分的抗衰老活性。