“Avian infectious bronchitis virus (IBV), a gamma coronavirus, remains the predominant pathogen affecting poultry worldwide, posing a significant threat to the poultry industry.
Cannabidiol (CBD), the primary non-psychoactive constituent of Cannabis sativa, has demonstrated diverse pharmacological properties.
This study investigated the inhibitory effects of CBD against IBV infection both in vitro and in vivo. Chicken embryo kidney (CEK) cells infected with IBV were treated with CBD at various concentrations (2–20 µM).
Our results demonstrated that CBD significantly suppressed IBV replication in a dose-dependent manner without affecting cell viability. Furthermore, in SPF chickens, CBD treatment markedly alleviated clinical symptoms, reduced tracheal and renal histopathological lesions, and significantly decreased viral loads in tissues. Transcriptomic analysis of tracheal tissue suggested that CBD may inhibit IBV infection through modulation of immune-related signaling pathways, particularly the JAK-STAT pathway and interferon-stimulated gene expression.
These findings indicate that CBD represents a promising candidate for therapeutic intervention against IBV infection.”
“This review explores the molecular and cellular pathways of soft tissue wound healing and the potential therapeutic use of the non-psychotropic cannabinoid cannabidiol (CBD), integrating findings from in vitro and in vivo preclinical studies as well as completed and ongoing clinical trials.
It provides a comprehensive summary of the next steps in new CBD-based product development by analyzing current trends in dosage optimization, treatment guidance, delivery systems, ranging from liposomes, microemulsions to hydrogels. Additionally, the review examines clinical trials related to CBD formulations, delivery routes, and participant outcomes, offering a deeper understanding of the mechanisms guiding the activity beyond binding to cannabinoid 1 (CB1) and CB2 receptors. Furthermore, it highlights challenges and future perspectives in CBD formulation studies, presenting both currently studied approaches and emerging possibilities for innovation.
Therapeutic potential of CBD has proved itself in the recent years and only regulatory issues and clarity in treatment and delivery routes will limit its widespread use in soft tissue healing.”
“The therapeutic properties of Cannabis sativa have been recognized for over five millennia, with it use as a medical substance dating back to the Christian era in Central and Northeast Asia, particularly in India. However, despite its potential, this plant has undergone limited scientific exploration of its chemical and biological properties, and its medical use has remained restricted, particularly following its classification as a substance with no medical value under the United Nations Single Convention on Narcotic Drugs.”
“The historical use of cannabinoids in ancient medicine, coupled with modern preclinical investigations into their various components, unveils a broad spectrum of its potential clinical applications for soft tissue regeneration.”
“The unique therapeutic properties of CBD hold great promise for the treatment of different diseases and disorders, including alleviating pain associated with various soft tissue injuries or conditions, fibrosis, inflammation, and addressing muscle disorders.”
“Anxiety commonly co-occurs with childhood epilepsy, yet treatments targeting both are limited.
Epidiolex (cannabidiol, CBD) is an FDA-approved treatment for seizures associated with rare pediatric epilepsies and may have anxiolytic effects. We evaluated its effects on seizures and anxiety in pediatric patients with refractory epilepsy, representing diverse seizure etiologies and circulating endocannabinoids and related biomarkers.
Twelve participants (12.17 ± 5.17 years; 6 female) initiated Epidiolex for 4-6 weeks. Caregivers completed pre- and post-treatment seizure diaries; validated anxiety and quality-of-life assessments; and plasma endocannabinoids, related lipids, and CBD metabolites-including 7-hydroxycannabidiol (7-OH-CBD)-were measured.
Post-treatment, 73% of caregivers reported improvements in anxiety and seizure frequency with minimal side effects and improved sleep. Plasma 2-arachidonoylglycerol increased from baseline to study end, with greater elevations in those with lower baseline concentrations. Plasma 7-OH-CBD increased from baseline to study end, confirming systemic CBD exposure.
Epidiolex may provide anxiolytic benefits across pediatric epilepsy, potentially involving endocannabinoids.”
“HIV-1 transmission depends on the structure and immune cell composition of mucosal epithelia. Transmission mechanisms involve direct infection of CD4+ T-cells or macrophages, and indirect viral transfer to CD4+ T-cells from Langerhans cells (LCs) or dendritic cells (DCs). LCs-mediated HIV-1 transfer is inhibited by the neuropeptide calcitonin gene-related peptide (CGRP), due to upstream activation in LCs of the transient receptor potential vanilloid 1 (TRPV1) ion channel.
Herein, we investigated the potential anti-HIV-1roles of cannabidiol (CBD), the non-psychoactive compound in marijuana, which has well-described immunosuppressive functions and principally activates TRPV1 over its cognate CB1 and CB2 receptors.
We found that via TRPV1 activation, CBDinhibitsin-vitroinfection of mucosal HIV-1 cellular targets. Specifically, CBD inhibits macrophages HIV-1 direct infection, and CD4+ T-cells HIV-1 direct infection or upon viral transfer from LCsand DCs. Moreover, inhibition of macrophages infection and LCs-mediated HIV-1 transfer involves secreted CGRP.Importantly,
CBD also blocks early events of HIV-1 transmission ex-vivo in human inner foreskin tissues, namely formation of epidermal LC-T-cell conjugates and resulting CD4+ T-cells infection.
Altogether, CBD inhibits infection of all HIV-1 cellular targets, and commercial CBD products might be repositioned as novel HIV-1 pre-exposure prophylaxis, namely ‘CBD PrEP’.”
“Bases on our results, we propose an alternative that we coin as ‘CBD PrEP’. This would consist of the repositioning of commercially available CBD-containing products as novel microbicides for the purpose of clinical HIV-1 prevention.”
“People with HIV (PWH) are at an increased risk of venous thromboembolism (VTE), and cannabis use is common in this population. However, evidence of cannabis impact on VTE risk has been conflicting and not well evaluated in PWH.
Using data from five Centers for AIDS Research Network of Integrated Clinical Systems sites (2009-2020), we assessed the association between cannabis use and VTE risk.
Among 13,646 PWH, 30% reported current cannabis use. In adjusted Cox models, neither former (adjusted hazard ratio [aHR] 0.78, 95% confidence interval (CI) 0.57-1.07) nor current (aHR 0.74, 95% CI 0.51-1.06) cannabis use showed a significant increase in VTE incidence compared with never use. Additionally, no dose-dependent relationship was observed between cannabis use frequency and VTE.
Among PWH, cannabis use does not appear to be associated with an elevated risk of VTE.
Further research is needed to elucidate the relationship between cannabis and VTE risk in this population.”
“Background: Against the background of widely inconsistent data from randomized controlled trials (RCT), the use of cannabis-based medicines (CBM) from the perspective of patients with chronic non-cancer pain (CNCP) was described.
Methods: Based on a purposive/convenient sampling, patients were recruited from the Pain Clinic of Hannover Medical School who had been using CBM prescribed by a doctor for at least 6 months. The patients discussed their experiences with CBM in semi-structured individual interviews. The interview transcripts were coded and analyzed using a modified grounded theory approach with the help of MAXQDA®. In addition, the Treatment Satisfaction Questionnaire with Medication (TSQM) was used.
Results: Theoretical saturation was reached after 32 interviews. Open and selective coding revealed the overarching phenomenon of “subjective pain experience under CBM therapy”, with one of the main themes being the “effect of CBM”. This revealed the categories “effect on pain” and “psychological” and “somatic effect”. The most important concepts were “pain intensity”, “pain management”, “stress management”, “musculoskeletal system”, and “sleep quality.” Constructing a theoretical framework 4 groups of responses to CBM treatment were identified. The focus is either on (I) pain reduction, (II) pain coping, (III) reduced stress or (IV) multidimensional aspects. When this classification was applied to topic of quality of life (QOL), the greatest effectiveness and highest overall satisfaction were found in group (IV). Mixed methods showed a continuous increase in the perceived effectiveness of CBM on pain-centered complaints from group (I) to (IV).
Conclusions: In line with the biopsychosocial understanding of chronic pain, it appears that those CNCP patients who benefit most from CBM are those who show the most far-reaching effects on both a physical and psychological level. The pleiotropic effects of CBM may be responsible for this. Based on these results, interdisciplinary prospective research appears sensible and necessary to further and systematically investigate this clinically relevant topic.”
“Background: Fibromyalgia is a kind of complex chronic pain syndrome that exerts a profound impact on patients’ lives. Current pharmacological treatments for fibromyalgia often yield suboptimal results. Cannabinoids have emerged as a potential therapeutic alternative to these treatments.
Objectives: Our study aimed to assess the analgesic efficacy of cannabinoids in treating fibromyalgia.
Study design: A systematic review and meta-analysis.
Methods: We conducted a comprehensive literature search using PubMed (MEDLINE), EMBASE, ISI Web of Knowledge, Cochrane Library, and Clinicaltrials.gov to analyze randomized controlled trials and observational studies that investigated the analgesic efficacy of cannabinoids in individuals diagnosed with fibromyalgia. The primary outcome was the effect of cannabinoids on pain intensity, quantified by the standardized mean difference (SMD) in pain levels before and after the treatment. We registered our review protocol in PROSPERO (CRD42024495525). The quality of the evidence was evaluated using the Grade of Recommendations Assessment, Development, and Evaluation (GRADE) method.
Results: Twelve clinical studies, consisting of 2 randomized controlled trials and 10 observational studies, (14 comparisons, 1,248 patients) were selected. Cannabinoids reduced pain intensity with statistical significance (SMD = -1.41, 95% CI = -1.98 to -0.84, P < 0.001), which was associated with a low GRADE rating. Both short-term (< 3 months, SMD = -1.37, 95% CI = -2.32 to -0.43, P = 0.004) and longer-term (≥ 3 months, SMD = -1.43, 95% CI = -2.22 to -0.65, P < 0.001) follow-ups showed statistically significant pain score reduction. Patients also experienced statistically significant improvements in sleep quality, anxiety, depression and quality of life (P-values < 0.05). Common adverse effects included dizziness, dry mouth, and drowsiness, while serious adverse effects were rare.
Limitations: Our analyses revealed that the results demonstrated considerable heterogeneity, which was attributed to variations in study designs, interventions, and outcome measurements across the included studies. These factors could potentially influence the validity of the findings. Thus, the results should be interpreted with these variations in mind.
Conclusion: Cannabinoids may provide analgesic benefits for patients with fibromyalgia. Cannabinoid use was also associated with improvements in sleep, anxiety, depression and quality of life. However, the findings should be interpreted with caution due to the quality of the evidence, heterogeneity, and small amount of available data from randomized controlled trials.”
“An optimal ratio of cannabidiol (CBD) to tetrahydrocanabinol (THC) was hypothesized to protect against neuropathological consequences following traumatic brain injury (TBI).
Varied CBD:THC extract concentrations were compared with hemp CBD lacking THC (CBD0). Neurons, glia, and parvalbumin interneurons (PV-INs) were evaluated.
Weight loss was observed following high doses of THC dominant cannabis, THC100:1. Neuroscores and vestibulomotor performance were restored most with CBD:THC300:1-10:1. However, THC dominant treatments resulted in early onset to spontaneous seizures post-TBI.
The alternating T-maze showed the CBD10:1 group had the highest spontaneous alternation rates whereas TBI + vehicle, CBD0, CBD1:1, and THC100:1 groups had the lowest. The novel object recognition memory task showed CBD300:1 treated animals had the best performance, while TBI or THC100:1 treated groups had the worst. The forced swim test (FST) revealed immobility time was highest after TBI and lowest after THC20:1 or THC100:1 treatment post-TBI. The elevated plus maze (EPM) revealed the CBD0 group spent the most time in closed arms. Both tests indicate that reduced anxiety was THC dependent. In the absence of TBI, THC20:1 treatment resulted in the highest mobility.
All combinations resulted in reduced injury post-TBI but CBD10:1 and THC20:1 afforded the most protection and THC100:1 the least. Reduced GFAP labeling was highest with CBD dominant cannabis supporting its neuroprotective role against inflammation. Rescue of diminished bilateral PV-INs was observed within the hippocampus and medial prefrontal cortex (mPFC) with CBD dominant treatment (CBD300, CBD0) supporting their anticonvulsant effect. Loss of PV-INs with THC dominant treatment supports their proconvulsant effect. Thus, CBD and THC have different beneficial therapeutic effects indicating an optimal concentration ratio is critical for neuropathological therapeutics.
SIGNIFICANCE STATEMENT: There is currently no optimal treatment that can prevent behavioral and cellular pathology as well as onset of spontaneous seizures associated with traumatic brain injury (TBI). We hypothesized that an optimal ratio of CBD:THC is required to protect against neuropathological consequences following TBI. Six extracts with varied CBD:THC ratio concentrations were compared with hemp CBD lacking THC. CBD dominant cannabis with critical THC dosing afforded the most neuroprotection and behavioral recovery, whereas THC dominant cannabis stimulated spontaneous seizure onset. CBD and THC had different beneficial therapeutic effects indicating an optimal concentration ratio is critical for neuropathological therapeutics. Absorbable medical carriers will offer delivery treatment options to optimize both short- and long-term drug efficacy relating to neuropathological disorders.”
“This multicenter retrospective study evaluated the effectiveness and safety of highly purified cannabidiol (CBD) in 22 patients with 15q11.2-q13.1 duplication or deletion syndromes (15q-DDS), including 12 with 15q duplication syndrome (dup15q) and 10 with Angelman syndrome (AS).
Median (interquartile range [IQR]) age at CBD initiation was 14.5 (10-22.5) years, with a median (IQR) follow-up of 21 (14-33) months. All dup15q and two AS patients presented with a Lennox-Gastaut phenotype.
At last observation, mean seizure reduction was 55.7% (95% confidence interval 38.7-72.7), with 63.6% patients achieving ≥50% reduction, 40.9% achieving ≥75% reduction, and 18.2% achieving seizure freedom. Tonic seizures in dup15q and myoclonic seizures in AS showed the most notable reductions. EEG improvement was observed in 7/16 patients, with marked improvement observed in two dup15q patients.
Clinical improvement on the Clinical Global Impression-Improvement scale was reported in 72.7%, alongside nonseizure benefits such as improved sleep, behavior, and attention in a subset of patients. CBD was well tolerated; no patient discontinued CBD due to side effects alone, and retention at last visit was 81.8%.
These findings suggest that CBD may provide clinically meaningful benefit in patients with 15q-DDS, including seizure reduction and improvements in sleep, behavior, and attention in selected cases.
PLAIN LANGUAGE SUMMARY: Epilepsy secondary to 15q11.2-q13.1 duplication or deletion syndromes (15q-DDS) is often severe, making daily life difficult for patients and their families. In this study, treatment with highly purified cannabidiol (CBD) reduced seizures in many patients with 15q-DDS. CBD was generally well tolerated, and caregivers also reported improvements in sleep, behavior, and attention in a number of cases.
Overall, these findings suggest that CBD may be a helpful treatment option for people with 15q-DDS.”
“Given the substantial disease burden and drug resistance typical of epilepsy in 15q-DDS, CBD may emerge as a promising therapeutic option in these patients.”
“Chronic neuroinflammation is associated with comorbidities in people with HIV (PWH) on antiretroviral therapy (ART).
While cannabis use is associated with reduced neuroinflammation and neurocognitive impairment (NCI) in PWH, the underlying mechanisms are unknown.
To address this gap in knowledge, we analyzed monocyte-derived macrophages (MDMs) from a cohort of 50 PWH and 33 people without HIV (mean age: 61.9 years), categorized by frequency of cannabis use (naïve/low, moderate, daily). We performed immunocytochemistry, RNA sequencing, and qPCR on MDMs and quantified related biomarkers in donor plasma.
In this cohort study, daily cannabis use in PWH was associated with less global neurocognitive deficits, and with an anti-inflammatory immunometabolic-phenotype in MDMs characterized by (1) a metabolic shift from glycolysis to oxidative phosphorylation, (2) higher mitochondrial numbers, (3) altered cytokine profiles (pro-inflammatory downregulation, anti-inflammatory upregulation), and (4) higher brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF) expression. These cellular changes were corroborated by a plasma biomarker profile in PWH including (1) lower levels of growth differentiation factor 15 and soluble triggering receptor expressed on myeloid cells 2, and (2) higher mature BDNF/precursor BDNF ratios that correlated with better cognition.
Thus, cannabis use may mitigate NCI in PWH by immunometabolically reprogramming MDM function towards an anti-inflammatory and neuroprotective state.”
