Naples, Italy: Administration of cannabidiol (CBD), a nonpsychoactive compound in marijuana, increased survival in cultured rat cells, according to clinical trial data to be published in the April issue of the Journal of Neurochemistry.
“Treatment of the cells with cannabidiol … significantly elevated cell survival,” researchers at the University of Naples concluded. “Our results indicate that cannabidiol exerts a combination of neuroprotective, anti-oxidative and anti-apoptotic effects (effects associated with the programmed cell death of malignant cells) against [induced] toxicity. Authors further speculated that CBD’s anti-oxidative effects may play a potential role in combating Alzheimer’s disease.
A 1998 study published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS) found that CBD protected rat brain cells from injury better than standard anti-oxidants. A 1999 report by the National Academy of Sciences’ Institute of Medicine (IOM) concluded that marijuana’s neuroprotective qualities are the “most prominent” of its potential therapeutic applications.
Last year, researchers at the University of Milan reported that the administration of CBD in gerbils prevented brain damage caused by ischemia (a reduction of blood flow to the brain that can cause cell death).
Earlier this week, the Israeli pharmaceutical company Pharmos announced that it had completed patient enrollment in a multi-country Phase III study of the effectiveness of the synthetic marijuana derivative Dexanabinol to treat brain damage resulting from Traumatic Brain Injury (TBI) and/or stroke. Study results are expected by the end of 2004.
For more information, please contact Paul Armentano, senior policy analyst of the NORML Foundation, at (202) 483-5500.