Non-psychotropic phytocannabinoid interactions with voltage-gated sodium channels: An update on cannabidiol and cannabigerol.

Phytocannabinoids, found in the plant, Cannabis sativa , are an important class of natural compounds with physiological effects. These compounds can be generally divided into two classes: psychoactive and non-psychoactive. Those which do not impart psychoactivity are assumed to predominantly function via endocannabinoid receptor (CB) -independent pathways and molecular targets, including other receptors and ion channels. Among these targets, the voltage-gated sodium (Nav) channels are particularly interesting due to their well-established role in electrical signalling in the nervous system. The interactions between the main non-psychoactive phytocannabinoid, cannabidiol (CBD), and Nav channels were studied in detail. In addition to CBD, cannabigerol (CBG), is another non-psychoactive molecule implicated as a potential therapeutic for several conditions, including pain via interactions with Nav channels. In this mini review, we provide an update on the interactions of Nav channels with CBD and CBG.
Competing Interests: SG is an employee of Xenon Pharmaceuticals Inc. No funders were involved in the study design, collection, analysis, interpretation of data, the writing of this article or the decision to submit it for publication. The remaining authors declare that the research was conducted in the absence of any commercial or financial relationships that could be construed as a potential conflict of interest.
(Copyright © 2022 Ghovanloo, Dib-Hajj, Goodchild, Ruben and Waxman.)