Cannabidiol attenuates seizures and social deficits in a mouse model of Dravet syndrome.

ABSTRACT: Worldwide medicinal use of cannabis is rapidly escalating, despite limited evidence of its efficacy from preclinical and clinical studies. Here we show that cannabidiol (CBD) effectively reduced seizures and autistic-like social deficits in a well-validated mouse genetic model of Dravet syndrome (DS), a severe childhood epilepsy disorder caused by loss-of-function mutations in the brain voltage-gated sodium channel Na_V1.1. The duration and severity of thermally induced seizures and the frequency of spontaneous seizures were substantially decreased. Treatment with lower doses of CBD also improved autistic-like social interaction deficits in DS mice. Phenotypic rescue was associated with restoration of the excitability of inhibitory interneurons in the hippocampal dentate gyrus, a

SUBMITTER: Kaplan JS 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC5651774 | biostudies-literature | 2017 Oct

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature