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Lookup NU author(s): Professor Mark Cunningham, Ashan Jayasekera
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Cannabis has been used to treat convulsions and other disorders since ancient times. In the last few decades, preclinical animal studies and clinical investigations have established the role of cannabidiol (CBD) in treating epilepsy and seizures and support potential therapeutic benefits for cannabinoids in other neurological and psychiatric disorders. Here, we comprehensively review the role of cannabinoids in epilepsy. We briefly review the diverse physiological processes mediating the central nervous system response to cannabinoids, including Δ9-tetrahydrocannabinol (Δ9-THC), cannabidiol, and terpenes. Next, we characterize the anti- and proconvulsive effects of cannabinoids from animal studies of acute seizures and chronic epileptogenesis. We then review the clinical literature on using cannabinoids to treat epilepsy, including anecdotal evidence and case studies as well as the more recent randomized controlled clinical trials that led to US Food and Drug Administration approval of CBD for some types of epilepsy. Overall, we seek to evaluate our current understanding of cannabinoids in epilepsy and focus future research on unanswered questions.
Author(s): Devinsky O, Jones NA, Cunningham MO, Jayasekera BAP, Devore S, Whalley BJ
Publication type: Review
Publication status: Published
Journal: Physiological Reviews
Year: 2024
Volume: 104
Issue: 2
Pages: 591-649
Print publication date: 01/04/2024
Online publication date: 10/01/2024
Acceptance date: 22/10/2023
ISSN (print): 0031-9333
ISSN (electronic): 1522-1210
Publisher: American Physiological Society
URL: https://doi.org/10.1152/physrev.00049.2021
DOI: 10.1152/physrev.00049.2021
PubMed id: 37882730
