Scientists from Yale University have published a study that demonstrates how a part of the brain that plays a significant role in the sensation of pain can be suppressed by non-psychoactive parts of the cannabis plant.
Cannabidiol (CBD), cannabigerol (CBG), and cannabinol (CBN) are non-psychoactive cannabinoids that are found in cannabis alongside others such as tetrahydrocannabinol (THC) which is psychoactive and is the cannabinoid responsible for the high feeling commonly associated with the plant.
Researchers focused on CBD, CBG, and CBN as they believe their therapeutic qualities could help relieve pain without the patient becoming intoxicated. Cannabinoids mitigate risks that are often associated with traditional pain medication such as addiction and overdose. They also believe these cannabis compounds could be more effective than current opioid-based pain medications.
The study showed that the cannabinoids interacted with a protein called Nav.1.8 found in sensory neurons within the spine. Nav.1.8 can make people feel pain by enabling the repetitive firing of the sensory neurons, which transmit pain signals to the brain.
Researchers used a rodent model to measure the amount of electronic current in the sensory neurons, noting how the current changed when the model was exposed to each of the three cannabinoids.
They found that all three cannabinoids can prevent sensory neurons in the spine from sending pain signals to the brain, thus decreasing the feeling of pain. Of the three cannabinoids CBG was found to be most effective at this.
“These findings open new avenues for the development of cannabinoid-based therapies. Our results show that CBG in particular has the strongest potential to provide effective pain relief without the risks associated with traditional treatments,” said Mohammad-Reza Ghovanloo, lead author of the study and an associate research scientist in the Department of Neurology at Yale School of Medicine.
Current pain medications such as opioids have been used for over 200 years, their source, the poppy plant has been used for thousands of years more. However, opioids and opiates (naturally occurring opioids from the poppy plant) are addictive and come with other unwanted side effects such as addiction.
The opioid epidemic that America is still living through is thought to have happened as a result of the over-prescribing of pain medications, specifically opioids by doctors, many of which received commissions from the drug manufacturers.
Once addicted to legal pain medication, many people turned to the illicit market, fueling the heroin, and then fentanyl markets which have been responsible for a rising opioid overdose death rate. Fatal overdoses from opioids in America stood at around 8000 annually in 1999 and have grown year on year (apart from 2018 which saw a small fall) to over 81,000 in 2022.
Researchers say they are optimistic that CBD, CBN, and particularly CBG could become replacement medications for opioids used in the treatment of pain.
“This research builds on the growing interest in the therapeutic potential of cannabinoids, highlighting their role in addressing chronic pain conditions such as neuropathic pain, arthritis, and inflammatory disorders,” said Dr. Stephen G. Waxman, senior author of the study and the Bridget M. Flaherty Professor of Neurology at Yale School of Medicine. “By focusing on Nav1.8 as a therapeutic target, the study paves the way for the development of innovative, cannabinoid-based pain treatments.”
This story first appeared on leafie, view here
Author: Kevin Dinneen
