Jerusalem, Israel: The administration of the nonpsychotropic cannabinoid CBD (cannabidiol) restores liver function and improves brain pathology in an experimental model of hepatic encephalopathy (brain deterioration due to liver failure), according to preclinical data published online in The British Journal of Pharmacology. If untreated, hepatic encephalopathy can result in coma and death.
An international team of investigators from Israel and Greece assessed the impact of CBD on neurological and motor functions in mice induced with hepatic failure. They reported, “Neurological and cognitive functions were severely impaired in thioacetamide-treated mice and were restored by cannabidiol. Similarly, decreased motor activity in thioacetamide-treated mice was partially restored by cannabidiol.”
Authors concluded, “Cannabidiol restores liver function, normalizes 5-HT levels and improves brain pathology in accordance with normalization of brain function.”
A 2009 review published in the journal Trends in Pharmacological Sciences reported that CBD possesses over a dozen separate therapeutic properties – including anti-cancer properties, anti-diabetic properties, anti-epileptic properties, and anti-bacterial properties.
For more information, please contact Paul Armentano, NORML Deputy Director, at: paul@norml.org. Full text of the study, “Cannabidiol improves brain and liver function in a fulminant hepatic failure-induced model of hepatic encephalopathy in mice,” appears in the British Journal of Pharmacology.