A study found that cnnabigerolic (CBGA), commonly known as “mother of all cannabinoids” reduces seizures in mice more efficiently than cannabidiol (CBD).
Cannabis are used for treating epilepsy from a long time, with validated approval of cannabidiol (CBD) for Dravet syndrome. However, prohibition on cannabis has restricted further advancement of the science. A research team at University of Sydney provided new insights into how cannabis extracts can be adapted for modern therapeutic treatments. The team identified three acidic cannabinoids in cannabis that reduce seizure activity in engineered mouse with Dravet syndrome.
Dravet syndrome is a rare epileptic condition that onsets in children in the first year of life and it lasts for lifelong period. Cannibidiol (CBD) has been used to treat seizures in this particular disease. Cannabis plants have many unique compounds known as cannabinoids, cannabidiol (CBD) and tetrahydrocannabinol (THC). The research team at University of Sydney have been studying many of the rare cannabinoids,yet they focused mainly on cannabigerolic acid, CBGA, which is commonly known as ‘mother of cannabinoids’ as it’s the ancestor of many cannabinoids, including CBD and THC. CBGA is found in every cannabis plant but as the plant grows the levels of CBGA reduce, since it gets converted into other chemicals as the plant matures. The team examined CBGA effects on some of the different preclinical seizure models and it showed more efficiency than CBD in many of the seizure models but not all.
Furthermore, according to the scientists, anticonvulsant effects of CBGA were more effective to reduce seizures in mouse model of Dravet syndrome, where these seizures are triggered by fever. Moreover, high doses of CBGA showed proconvulsant effects on other types of seizures, where it is likely to provoke epileptic attacks. Thus, shows the limits of this cannabis compound. Now the team is exploring anticonvulsant effects of different cannabis compounds together, to find out their combined anticonvulsant potential in therapeutics.
