Cannabinoids have been shown to be effective at treating seizure disorders for a very long time even if formal approval for their usage has only recently been granted. In 2018 the U.S. Food & Drug Administration approved the use of cannabidiol (CBD) under the trade name Epidiolex® for the treatment of two pediatric seizure disorders, Lennox-Gastaut Syndrome and Dravet Syndrome. Two years later, the FDA approved CBD for the treatment of symptoms associated with tuberous sclerosis complex.
CBD appears to not be alone in producing anticonvulsant effects in patients—or at least mice. A team of researchers at the University of Sydney in Australia has published a study on the anticonvulsant effects of three cannabinoid acids, cannabigerolic acid (CBGA), cannabigerovarinic acid (CBGVA), cannabidivarinic acid (CBDVA), and found CBGA to be the most promising.
“We found that CBGA was more potent than CBD in reducing seizures triggered by a febrile event in a mouse model of Dravet syndrome,” said lead author of the study, Dr. Lyndsey Anderson. “Although higher doses of CBGA also had proconvulsant effects on other seizure types highlighting a limitation of this cannabis constituent. We also found CBGA to affect many epilepsy-relevant drug targets.”
The British Journal of Pharmacology has more.