A new study on the toxicity and long-term effects of cannabidiol (CBD) was just published in the journal Cannabis and Cannabinoid Research. This is significant because no lifelong toxicity study on cannabidiol has been published to date.
The study, conducted on Caenorhabditis elegans, or roundworms, had some interesting, but not unexpected, results.
Caenorhabditis elegans [roundworm] is often used in preclinical lifelong toxicity studies, due to an estimated 60–80% of their genes having a human ortholog, and their short lifespan of ∼2–3 weeks. In this study, [researchers] examined both acute and long-term exposure studies of CBD at physiologically relevant concentrations.
The study ... found CBD did not demonstrate any degree of acute or life-long toxicity or related problems. Instead, CBD extended mean lifespan up to 18% (so an extra couple of/few days). Additionally, motility (movement) analysis of the same groups showed an increase in late-stage life activity by up to 206% compared to controls. The report notes no animal (yes, worms are classified an animal) died prematurely under any of the tested CBD concentrations.
“These results serve as the only CBD life-long exposure data in an in vivo model to date, and the absence of long-term toxicity gives us the evidence we need as an industry to continue researching the potential health benefits for the broader application of CBD,” said Canopy Growth’s Hunter Land.
Studies like this are important not just for general education and research purposes, but they also help inform lawmakers and government agencies as they look to create regulations and standards governing cannabinoids.
Read the full article at hempgazette.com