Effects of sub-chronic nabiximols on biological markers of individuals undergoing a clinical trial for the treatment of cannabis use disorder

Am J Transl Res. 2023 Aug 15;15(8):5228-5238. eCollection 2023.

ABSTRACT

OBJECTIVE: Nabiximols is used for treating various symptoms associated with multiple sclerosis (MS). Nabiximols is also being investigated as a potential treatment medication for individuals with cannabis use disorder (CUD). A variety of investigations have shown that, at low doses, nabiximols is overall well tolerated for MS treatment. However, due to tolerance, the management of CUD would likely require much higher doses of nabiximols to be effective. The effects of high doses of nabiximols on clinical laboratory tests remain unclear. Therefore, we investigated the sub-chronic effects of high doses of nabiximols on liver function, renal function, and other routine blood tests in this prospective study.

METHODS: We performed a secondary analysis of various blood markers results collected during a double-blind, placebo-controlled randomized clinical trial (Sativex and Behavioral-relapse Prevention Strategy in Cannabis Dependence, NCT01747850, https://clinicaltrials.gov/ct2/show/record/NCT01747850). This trial tested the impact of the 12-week administration of nabiximols with a maximum daily dose of up to 113.4 mg THC/105 mg CBD.

RESULTS: The measurements of the various biomarkers were in the normal range during the 12-week time frame. The results indicate an overall good tolerability of high-dose nabiximols on the blood markers measured.

CONCLUSION: Our preliminary results suggest that high doses of nabiximols might be well tolerated by individuals with CUD.

PMID:37692969 | PMC:PMC10492088