In recent years, there has been a growing interest, supported by a large number of experimental, epidemiological and clinical studies, about the beneficial effects of cannabidiol in preventing various pathologic conditions, including brain neurodegeneration. In vitro studies demonstrate that a treatment with cannabidiol can inhibit hyper-phosphorylation of Tau protein leading to the reduction of neuronal loss.
The Panhellenic Federation of Alzheimer’s Disease and Related Disorders is conducting a study on the effects of cannabidiol on cognition and mental health of patients with Mild Cognitive Impairment (MCI). The methodology rigour plan of the present randomised clinical trial will cover every aspect of the disease and eliminate possible limitations with careful selection of inclusion and exclusion criteria, with randomisation of the sample and with the use of all the contemporary means and measures, such as neuropsychological assessment, MRI, analysis of blood and cerebrospinal fluid biomarkers. The effects of cannabidiol will be compared with the effects of homotaurine and Mediterranean Diet and the participants will be divided further into Apolipoprotein ε3 carriers and Apolipoprotein ε4 carriers in order to clarify the role of this specific allele in the treatment. The effects will be measured with an extensive neuropsychological assessment, blood biomarkers before the beginning of treatment and each year for two years.
So, the present study is going to be the first in vivo clinical trial internationally which will examine thoroughly the effects of cannabidiol in MCI patients. Moreover, the extensive neuropsychological assessment will clarify the specific areas of cognition which can be improved by both the cannabidiol and the homotaurine. The analysis of blood biomarkers makes the results more reliable. For this reason, the results will give new evidence on the use of cannabidiol in order to prevent Alzheimer's disease, say the researchers.
