Cannabidiol in the Treatment of Mood Disorders

AbstractPurpose of ReviewPreclinical studies have demonstrated that cannabidiol improves depressive-like behaviors in animal models, raising its plausibility to be investigated as a treatment for major depressive disorder (MDD) and bipolar disorder (BD). Therefore, our aim is to review the available clinical data of cannabidiol in the treatment of mood disorders.Recent FindingsThere are no published randomized clinical trials (RCTs) that investigated the efficacy of cannabidiol in mood disorders, either alone or in combination with other cannabinoids. Similarly, there are no published trials with affective symptoms as the primary outcome. There are a few studies which investigated mood symptoms as secondary outcomes within medical conditions or non-mood disorder psychiatric conditions, and the results are conflicting due to the methodological differences between studies. Nevertheless, studies have found cannabidiol to be well-tolerated with few adverse effects such as diarrhea and somnolence.SummaryThere are no RCT data for the efficacy of cannabidiol in the treatment of MDD or BD, but few studies assessed its efficacy on mood symptoms as secondary outcomes in medical and non-psychiatric disorders populations with conflicting results. Thus, currently, there is insufficient evidence to recommend cannabidiol as a treatment for mood disorders, and high-quality clinical trials are urgently needed.
Source: Current Treatment Options in Psychiatry - Category: Psychiatry Source Type: research