Synthetic, non-intoxicating 8,9-dihydrocannabidiol for the mitigation of seizures

There can be a fine line between therapeutic intervention and substance abuse, and this point is clearly exemplified in herbal cannabis and its products. Therapies involving cannabis have been the treatment of last resort for some cases of refractory epilepsy, and this has been among the strongest m...

Full description

Saved in:
Bibliographic Details
Published in:Scientific reports 2019-05, Vol.9 (1), p.7778, Article 7778
Main Authors: Mascal, Mark, Hafezi, Nema, Wang, Deping, Hu, Yuhan, Serra, Gessica, Dallas, Mark L., Spencer, Jeremy P. E.
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
140/131
631/378/340
639/638/92/436/2388
Animals
Anticonvulsants
Anticonvulsants - pharmacology
Anticonvulsants - therapeutic use
Cannabidiol - pharmacology
Cannabidiol - therapeutic use
Cannabinoids
Cannabinoids - pharmacology
Cannabinoids - therapeutic use
Cannabis
Convulsions & seizures
Disease Models, Animal
Drug abuse
Epilepsy
Humanities and Social Sciences
Male
Marijuana
multidisciplinary
Pentylenetetrazole
Rats
Rats, Wistar
Science
Science (multidisciplinary)
Seizures
Seizures - chemically induced
Seizures - drug therapy
Tetrahydrocannabinol
Treatment Outcome
Citations: Items that this one cites
Items that cite this one
Online Access:Get full text
Tags: Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
Description
Summary:There can be a fine line between therapeutic intervention and substance abuse, and this point is clearly exemplified in herbal cannabis and its products. Therapies involving cannabis have been the treatment of last resort for some cases of refractory epilepsy, and this has been among the strongest medical justifications for legalization of marijuana. In order to circumvent the narcotic effects of Δ 9 -tetrahydrocannabinol (THC), many studies have concentrated on its less intoxicating isomer cannabidiol (CBD). However, CBD, like all natural cannabinoids, is a controlled substance in most countries, and its conversion into THC can be easily performed using common chemicals. We describe here the anticonvulsant properties of 8,9-dihydrocannibidiol (H2CBD), a fully synthetic analogue of CBD that is prepared from inexpensive, non-cannabis derived precursors. H2CBD was found to have effectiveness comparable to CBD both for decreasing the number and reducing the severity of pentylenetetrazole-induced seizures in rats. Finally, H2CBD cannot be converted by any reasonable synthetic route into THC, and thus has the potential to act as a safe, noncontroversial drug for seizure mitigation.
ISSN:2045-2322
2045-2322
DOI:10.1038/s41598-019-44056-y