Canadian cannabis company Canopy Growth (Canopy) and its medical division Spectrum Therapeutics today announced the completion and publication of a study focused on the effects of long-term cannabidiol (CBD) use.
Canopy conducted the study through a partnership with Nemalife Inc. and published it online in the Cannabis and Cannabinoid Research journal.
The purpose of the study was to evaluate the solubility, stability, acute toxicity, thermotolerance, and effect on lifespan of CBD in specific models.
Canopy says the research is part of its ongoing commitment to providing the appropriate data to support and influence public policy.
According to Canopy, the study is the first long-term toxicity and lifespan research examining the effects of chronic CBD exposure.
“Despite widespread use of CBD, no life-long toxicity studies had been conducted to date to determine the impact—or potential impact—of long-term exposure to CBD,” says Canopy Growth Senior Director of Translational and Discovery Science Hunter Land. “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.”
For the study, Canopy used the Caenorhabditis elegans (C. elegans) worm model as they share 60-80 percent of their genes with humans.
The worms also have a lifespan of two to three weeks, which makes lifetime effect studies feasible.
In the C. elegans model, Canopy found no evidence of acute or long-term toxicity from CBD.
Instead, the administering of CBD extended the mean lifespan up to 18 percent and increased late-stage life activity by up to 206 percent compared to untreated controls.
Canopy says that, while further research should be conducted in mammalian models, the C. elegans model indicates a lack of long-term toxicity at physically relevant concentrations.
Along with Canopy’s medical division, the company says that its continued research initiatives are aimed at better understanding and utilizing the full potential of cannabis.
