CBDV: a minor cannabinoid with surprising potential

Today we're shining our cannabinoid spotlight on a natural secondary cannabinoid: CBDV.

Research into this CBD counterpart is still in its infancy, but has already been marked by major advances. Not least in our knowledge of the endocannabinoid system and the regulatory mechanisms it plays a part in.

That's all there is to it! Follow the presentation of this promising cannabinoid to find out all about it!

What is CBDV?

If you've been following our articles on secondary and alternative cannabinoids, you'll have guessed that CBDV is known as cannabidivarin. Yes, it's the CBD variant of THCV, or tetrahydrocannabivarin.
In fact, it has at least one thing in common with THCV. Like THCV, CBDV plays a major role in the entourage effect: it multiplies the action of CBD.
But unlike THCV, CBDV can be found in relatively large quantities in nature. It can be found in wild cannabis flowers from northern India and Nepal, as well as in resins from the same regions.

At the molecular level, it differs from CBD only in its shortened side chain. This leads to some differences in effect.

CBDV: effect and mechanism of action

Like most other cannabinoids, studies are still in the preliminary stages. Although we can't fully explain its mechanisms of action and their variations, we do know enough to briefly explain how it works:

We now know that CBDV, like CBD, has little effect on CB1 receptors, and even less on CB2 receptors. For this reason, these two molecules do not share the intoxicating effects and sensory distortions associated with cannabis and certain synthetic cannabinoids.

Some studies suggest that CBDV interacts at other levels, with other receptors also present in the endocannabinoid system. These include TRPV2 and TRPV1. These receptors are also known as capsaicin receptors.
They can be activated by a variety of means and, like CB1 and CB2, are involved in the chemical response produced by our body to certain stimuli.
Typically, these are the receptors activated to produce the pain and heat we feel when eating chilli, when bitten by certain insects or when using a warming ointment.

But beyond that, they also play a part in our metabolism's response to inflammation, and in many other areas that will be of much greater interest to us here.

Scientific studies on CBDV

Once again, we don't have much information on CBDV, but it is better known than many of its competitors.

For good reason, we can afford the luxury of providing you with an overview of the scientific studies on the subject:

CBDV and CBD in epilepsy research

One of the first studies we're going to tell you about dates back to 2013. In a preliminary study conducted at the University of Reading in England, a group of researchers attempted to examine the anticonvulsant effects of CBD and CBDV on rats and mice.

To do this, they administered either CBD or CBDV, or both, in varying doses and forms to several groups of guinea pigs.
Next, they sought to induce convulsive seizures in the guinea pigs and were able to measure cannabinoid-induced resilience.

The study concluded that CBDV showed significant anticonvulsant effects, but to its surprise, these effects were not linked to the CB1 receptor.

This questioning interested other researchers. And the following year, in 2014, a group of Italian researchers were able to explain these effects by proving CBDV's interaction with TRPV receptors. Receptors that can "contribute to the onset and progression of certain forms of epilepsy". So, by acting on these same receptors, CBD and CBDV rapidly activate and desensitize them, making the subject less susceptible to this type of seizure. 

CBDV in autism spectrum disorder (ASD) research.

In 2019, a group of Anglo-American researchers set out to study the action of CBDV on autism spectrum disorder (ASD). This idea came to them after reviewing preclinical studies demonstrating the compound's ability to act on brain inhibitory-excitatory receptors. It turns out that these receptors may also be involved in ASD.

Indeed, some autism spectrum disorders are neurodevelopmental disorders affecting social-emotional communication. It is therefore thought that a treatment acting on the brain's inhibitor-exciters during development could prevent some of the communication problems developing in the brains of very young children.

The researchers therefore carried out tests in a double-blind, randomized, crossover design, studying the responses of subjects subjected to CBDV versus a placebo. The study concluded that CBDV did indeed act on the cerebral inhibitory-excitatory pathways involved in ASD. Nevertheless, the responses were not uniform, with a greater or lesser impact depending on the case, as it turned out not to affect the same regions of the brain each time.

The study therefore concluded that CBDV alone could not provide an adequate and safe clinical response to treatment. Nevertheless, it represents a breakthrough in the understanding and treatment of ASD, and calls for further research.

CBDV and THCV against nausea

It's not uncommon to read that cannabis and CBD can have positive effects on nausea, particularly that caused by cancer treatments.
And the reverse is also true, with many articles and testimonials claiming that cannabis frequently produces a sensation of nausea, particularly among regular users and during bad trips.

This is explained by the fact that CB1 receptors, particularly affected by THC, are themselves the source of nausea when subjected to the right stimuli.

Given this finding, the researchers wondered whether the use of CBDV and THCV could produce this nausea-inducing stimulus, or create an inverse stimulus that could prevent nausea.

The study concludes that neither THCV nor CBDV would produce nausea and that, by suppressing gaps in the receptors that are the source of this nausea, both molecules "may have therapeutic potential for reducing nausea."

CBDV and Rett syndrome

Finally, the study we found most fascinating: the action of CBDV on Rett syndrome.

Rett syndrome (RTT) is classified as a rare neurodevelopmental disorder, mainly affecting girls during the first 6 to 18 months of life. It causes stagnation in psychomotor development, leading to loss of motor and language skills, as well as brain atrophy.

To date, there is no treatment for this disease, but it is known that 95% of cases are caused by mutation of the X gene. We also know that the endocannabinoid system regulates a number of physiological processes which are altered by this disease.

The researchers' aim was therefore to verify whether CBDV, by acting on the endocannabinoid system, could have an interesting therapeutic effect.

For this study, researchers administered CBDV to a group of rats affected by RTT for 14 days. And the results were more than encouraging: the researchers were able to observe a recovery in the behavioral and cerebral alterations of the guinea pigs:

"CBDV treatment restored compromised general health, sociability and brain weight in RTT mice. A partial restoration of motor coordination was also observed."

What's more, they also found much higher levels of G protein in the mice's hippocampus, paving the way for a new avenue of research into the treatment of RTT.

Encouraging results, but caution remains the watchword

Although still largely unknown, CBDV has shown exciting therapeutic potential. In so doing, it has also broadened much of what we know about the endocannabinoid system and its ability to regulate a number of pathologies, while learning more about these pathologies themselves.

Nevertheless, it's important to bear in mind that there are still many grey areas surrounding the full extent of its action and mechanisms.

It will be many years before we can conclude that CBDV is completely safe and has a real therapeutic effect.

Until then, keep up to date on our blog!