A new study conducted by researchers at the Penn State College of Medicine has found that while CBD alone is not incredibly effective at treating neuropathic pain, it is effective when mixed with THC, and THC is effective when administered by itself.
Published by the journal Biomedicines, the full text of the study can be found by clicking here.
According to the study’s authors, neuropathic pain is a condition that impacts a substantial portion of the population and is expected to affect a larger percentage in the future. This type of pain “is poorly managed by current therapies, including opioids and NSAIDS, and novel approaches are needed.”
For the study researchers “used a cisplatin-induced model of neuropathic pain in mice to assess the effects of the cannabinoids THC and CBD alone or in varying ratios as anti-nociceptive agents.”
In addition to testing pure compounds, they also tested extracts containing high THC or CBD at the same ratios.
“We found that pure CBD had little impact on mechanical hypersensitivity, whereas THC reduced mechanical hypersensitivity in both male and female mice (as has been reported in the literature)”, states the study. “Interestingly, we found that high CBD cannabis extract, at the same CBD dose as pure CBD, was able to reduce mechanical hypersensitivity, although not to the same level as high THC extract.”
The study states that this data “suggest that, at least for CBD-dominant cannabis extracts, there is an increase in the anti-nociceptive activity that may be attributed to other constitutes of the plant.”
They also found that “high THC extract or pure THC is the most efficacious treatment for reducing neuropathic pain in this model.”
The study’s abstract can be found below.
