There are more than 600 known neurological disorders like Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s. Over 50 million Americans suffer from them every year, according to the National Institute of Health. Alzheimer’s alone is estimated to cost $100 billion annually in health care and lost opportunities — a figure that doesn’t even touch the emotional cost to affected individuals and their families.
Pharmaceutical researchers have been searching for treatments and cures for these diseases for decades. And they may have just found one of the most promising chemical compounds yet in cannabis.
Cannabinol, or CBN, is one of more than 100 phytocannabinoids naturally present in cannabis sativa. It was the first cannabis compound to be isolated from cannabis extract in the late 1800s. It is a non-psychoactive compound that has recently been singled out for its potential to help improve sleep.
It may be an effective treatment for far more than sleeplessness and insomnia. Findings published in Redux Biology in March indicate that this chemical compound might be a capable “neuroprotector” against what the researchers call the “oxytosis/ferroptosis cell death pathway.”
“Several years ago, we tested a number of different cannabinoids for protection against the oxytosis/ferroptosis cell death pathway and found CBN to be one of the most effective,” says Pamela Maher, a research professor and senior author of the recent study.
During Maher’s previous research, she observed that CBN protected the brain’s neurons by preventing mitochondrial dysfunction. She notes that THC and CBD also showed neuroprotective qualities. But when she returned to pursue the research further, her team chose to examine non-psychoactive cannabinoids.
“Since we are interested in maintaining brain function in the context of aging and disease,” Maher says, “we thought that a psychoactive compound could be problematic.”
Maher’s team identified the key active part of CBN, divided the structure into three parts, and tested them individually and in combinations with different modifications. Those were then tested on mouse and human nerve cell cultures for neuroprotective activity.
The researchers also tested the CBN analogs in fruit flies. That was when they noticed something interesting, Maher says.
The analog, CP1, demonstrated potent neuroprotective qualities in the fruit flies, producing the highest survival rate after condition onset. Maher says that she and her colleagues were surprised that only one of the analogs was effective in the fruit flies and that the differences only showed in the fly model and not in the animal cell cultures.
These findings are promising on several levels to Maher. She talks about how a CBN analog could someday be given to a football player before a game or a car accident survivor when they get to the hospital to help protect their brains’ neurons from degeneration following traumatic brain injury. It could also be given to someone who is experiencing Alzheimer’s or Parkinson’s disease.
Maher is particularly excited by the research opportunities the study presents. With so many neurological disorders and so many people affected by them, research on CBN and the other 100+ cannabinoids in the cannabis sativa plant offers hope.
“The CBN analog that was most effective in the fly model might be useful as a new drug candidate, but can also serve as the basis for the development of additional CBN analogs based on its structure,” Maher says. “This structure had significant promise for further in vivo studies and possibly further development as a drug candidate.”