A Controlled Clinical Study Examines CBN Effects
University of Sydney scientists recently published the results of a clinical study on CBN’s effects on sleep. Using rats for testing, the results showed strong scientific evidence that CBN (cannabinol) improves sleep. The rats were given purified CBN and monitored with high-tech equipment to assess sleep patterns, including rapid eye movement (REM) and non-rapid eye movement (NREM). CBN increased NREM in a way similar to taking the sleep drug.
Cannabis folklore has claimed that aged cannabis makes people sleepy due to the presence of more CBN. There was no scientific evidence as folklore, but that is changing with studies like this one. As the cannabis plant ages, THC is slowly converted to CBN over time. Using purified CBN, the research team at the Lambert Initiative for Cannabinoid Therapeutics used high-tech monitoring equipment to test the effects of CBN on rats, and positive results were reported.
It was discovered that CBN and the 11-OH CBN metabolite produced significant sleep improvement. The team leader, Professor Jonathon Arnold, Director of Preclinical Research at the Lambert Initiative for Cannabinoid Therapeutics and the Sydney Pharmacy School, said,
“This provides the first evidence that CBN indeed increases sleep using objective sleep measures. It was a surprise that CBN metabolism in the body can yield a much greater effect on cannabinoid CB1 receptors than the parent molecule CBN, which has much more limited activity.”
An 11-OH CBN metabolite is a biological breakdown of CBN by the body’s metabolic process. The CBN metabolite is more potent than CBN, making it more active. This finding suggests that the body’s metabolic processes could potentially enhance the therapeutic effects of CBN. The next stage is to measure the effects of CBN and its metabolites on humans.
Another study, led by Professor Iain McGregor, Director of Clinical Research at the Lambert Initiative, included human participants. Not yet published, this placebo-controlled clinical trial, which administered CBN once to insomnia patients, yielded positive results. The promising outcomes of this study instill hope for the potential of CBN in future research.
The proof of the power of cannabinoids as therapeutics for a variety of health issues continues to grow with each clinical study. In some cases, researchers are also looking into cannabinoids like CBN as compounds that can amplify other medicines and make them more effective.
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