Abstract
Cannabidiol (CBD) is a non-intoxicating and generally well-tolerated constituent of cannabis which exhibits potential beneficial properties in a wide range of diseases, including cardiovascular disorders. Due to its complex mechanism of action, CBD may affect the cardiovascular system in different ways. Thus, we reviewed the influence of CBD on this system in health and disease to determine the potential risk of cardiovascular side effects during CBD use for medical and wellness purposes and to elucidate its therapeutic potential in cardiovascular diseases. Administration of CBD to healthy volunteers or animals usually does not markedly affect hemodynamic parameters. Although CBD has been found to exhibit vasodilatory and antioxidant properties in hypertension, it has not affected blood pressure in hypertensive animals. Hypotensive action of CBD has been mainly revealed under stress conditions. Many positive effects of CBD have been observed in experimental models of heart diseases (myocardial infarction, cardiomyopathy, myocarditis), stroke, neonatal hypoxic ischemic encephalopathy, sepsis-related encephalitis, cardiovascular complications of diabetes, and ischemia/reperfusion injures of liver and kidneys. In these pathological conditions CBD decreased organ damage and dysfunction, oxidative and nitrative stress, inflammatory processes and apoptosis, among others. Nevertheless, further clinical research is needed to recommend the use of CBD in the treatment of cardiovascular diseases.
Highlights
Cannabis sativa has been used since ancient times for agricultural, ceremonial and medicinal purposes
Cannabis contains over 700 different chemicals, among which a group of compounds called cannabinoids stands out
Studies carried out, to date, in animals and humans largely indicate no or little effect of CBD administered orally (p.o), intravenously (i.v), intra-arterially, intraperitoneally (i.p.), centrally or through inhalation on systolic (SBP), diastolic (DBP) or mean (MBP) arterial blood pressure and/or heart rate under physiological conditions (Table 2) [7,15,49,55,74,75,76,77,78,79,80,81,82,83,84,85,86,87,88,89,90,91,92,93,94,95,96,97]. This is confirmed by the results of a meta-analysis by Sultan et al [24], which indicated no influence of CBD on HR and BP after acute and chronic administration
Summary
Cannabis sativa has been used since ancient times for agricultural, ceremonial and medicinal purposes. CBD possesses wide therapeutic potential, which includes e.g., epilepsy, neurodegenerative diseases (multiple sclerosis, Alzheimer’s, Parkinson’s and Huntington’s diseases), neuropsychiatric disorders (depression, anxiety disorders, schizophrenia, post-traumatic stress disorder, autistic spectrum disorders), gastrointestinal disorders (nausea and vomiting, inflammatory bowel diseases, irritable bowel syndrome), rheumatic diseases, graft versus host disease and cancer (reviewed elsewhere: [5,6,17,30,31,32,33]). Most of these indications require further investigation to confirm clinical effectiveness. ↑ HR (significant) and ↑ or ↓ BP in human ↓ HR (usually), and ↓ or ↑ or biphasic changes in BP in animals Vasodilation or vasoconstriction of isolated vessels
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