Immune Responses Regulated by Cannabidiol
ORCID
Kaplan: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-1992-4145
MSU Affiliation
College of Veterinary Medicine; Department of Basic Sciences; Center for Environmental Health Sciences
Creation Date
2026-03-30
Abstract
Cannabidiol (CBD) as Epidiolex (GW Pharmaceuticals) was recently approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to treat rare forms of epilepsy in patients 2 years of age and older. Together with the increased societal acceptance of recreational cannabis and CBD oil for putative medical use in many states, the exposure to CBD is increasing, even though all of its biological effects are not understood. Once such example is the ability of CBD to be anti-inflammatory and immune suppressive, so the purpose of this review is to summarize effects and mechanisms of CBD in the immune system. It includes a consideration of reports identifying receptors through which CBD acts, since the "CBD receptor," if a single one exists, has not been definitively identified for the myriad immune system effects. The review then provides a summary of in vivo and in vitro effects in the immune system, in autoimmune models, with a focus on experimental autoimmune encephalomyelitis, and ends with identification of knowledge gaps. Overall, the data overwhelmingly support the notion that CBD is immune suppressive and that the mechanisms involve direct suppression of activation of various immune cell types, induction of apoptosis, and promotion of regulatory cells, which, in turn, control other immune cell targets.
Publication Date
3-1-2020
Publication Title
Cannabis and Cannabinoid Research
Publisher
Sage; Mary Ann Liebert
First Page
12
Last Page
31
Creative Commons License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License
Recommended Citation
Nichols JM, Kaplan BLF. Immune Responses Regulated by Cannabidiol. Cannabis & Cannabinoid Research. 2020;5(1):12-31. doi:10.1089/can.2018.0073
