New Insights into Cannabidiol Pharmacology: Relevance for Therapeutics

Dear Colleagues,

Extensive research of Cannabis sativa derivates has led to the characterization of isolated compounds with great therapeutic potential. Cannabidiol (CBD), the main non-psychotropic constituent of the plant, stands out as one of the most studied phytocannabinoids to date. The number of clinical and pre-clinical studies investigating the many potential applications of CBD has exponentially increased during the last 5 years. These scientific endeavors have led to the approval of the first CBD-based pharmacotherapies for the treatment of rare infant forms of epilepsy and muscular spasticity associated with multiple sclerosis.    

In spite of this, the ever-growing body of work delineating CBD’s effects has presented us with even more open questions than those that have been answered satisfactorily. Meanwhile, CBD’s popularity has overwhelmingly outgrown the scientific sphere, to the point that it is now hard to find a major commerce street without a CBD retail store. At this point, it is of capital importance to discover and revisit those features of CBD’s pharmacology, which are especially relevant for its therapeutic and safety profile. 

Here, we set up a Special Issue focusing on novel evidence related, but not limited, to CBD’s anxiolytic effects, the prevention of drug dependence and relapse, innovative delivery methods, human pharmacokinetics, natural and synthetic analogs, novel mechanisms at ion channels, the brain’s dopamine and endocannabinoid systems, and other outstanding research questions. In this Special Issue, we welcome original research and review articles with the potential to open new research avenues about CBD’s effects and mechanisms of action or revisit some longstanding open questions.

Dr. Miguel Ángel Luján
Prof. Dr. Gioacchino Calapai
Guest Editors

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• cannabidiol
• cannabinoid receptors
• drug use disorders
• anxiety
• ion channels
• pharmacokinetics
• protein complexes
• drug delivery
• dopamine