Administration of Cannabigerol Shows Long-Lasting Relief for Cisplatin-Induced Neuropathic Pain

A reportedly first-of-its-kind study published earlier this year in the journal Pharmaceuticals tested the effectiveness of cannabigerol (CBG) in treating neuropathic pain induced by cisplatin (1). Cisplatin-induced peripheral neuropathy (CIPN), the study explained, is an adverse effect of treating cancers with cisplatin and results in nerve pain, and currently there are no long-lasting treatments for human patients (1).

Researchers at Penn State College of Medicine conducted the study using injections of CBG in both male and female mice to test the tolerance of the treatment and its effect on hypersensitivity to CIPN (1). A previous study published in 2022 by the research team established that CBG injected acutely is effective in reducing mechanical hypersensitivity caused by CIPN for up to six hours, though was not effective for other types of pain (1,2).

The more recent study expanded on these previous findings by using a treatment model that human patients were more likely to encounter (2). “Both male and female mice with CIPN were treated daily with CBG allowing us to test the hypothesis that chronic CBG treatment would provide a lasting reduction in neuropathic pain without eliciting tolerance to CBG,” the study’s introduction explained (1). The injections were consecutively given for seven and fourteen days, rather than acutely as in the previous study (1). “Chronic CBG administration can provide at least 24 h of antinociceptive effect in mice,” researchers concluded (1). “These findings support the study of CBG as a long-lasting neuropathic pain therapy, which acts without tolerance in both males and females.”

According to the results section, the CBG did not affect the weight of the mice, nor did it cause side effects such as diarrhea or skin lesions (1). The treatment was also not affected by the estrous cycle of the female mice (2). The discussion section included areas of future research such as minimum effective doses and sex-differences in responses (1). “Our future work will consider protein-level changes as well as circulating endocannabinoids as potential mechanistic contributions to the long-lasting analgesia induce by CBG,” researchers also explained (1).

“As the therapeutic potential of cannabigerol gains popularity in the research and public sectors, in-depth characterization of its benefits and harms needs to be conducted,” researchers concluded (1).

References

1. Nachnani, R.; Sepulveda, D. E.; Booth, J. L.; Zhou, S.; Graziane, N. M.; Raup-Konsavage, W. M.; Vrana, K. E. Chronic cannabigerol as an effective therapeutic for cisplatin-induced neuropathic pain. Pharmaceuticals 2023, 16 (10), 1442 DOI: 10.3390/ph16101442.
2. Sepulveda, D. E.; Morris, D. P.; Raup‐Konsavage, W. M.; Sun, D.; Vrana, K. E.; Graziane, N. M. Cannabigerol (CBG) attenuates mechanical hypersensitivity elicited by chemotherapy‐induced peripheral neuropathy. European Journal of Pain 2022, 26 (9), 1950–1966 DOI: 10.1002/ejp.2016.