Cannabidiol as a suggested candidate for treatment of autism spectrum disorder, Shani Poleg et al., 2019

Cannabidiol as a suggested candidate for treatment of autism spectrum disorder.

POLEG S., GOLUBCHIK P., OFFEN D., WEIZMAN A.

Progress in Neuro-Psychopharmacology and Biological Psychiatry, 2019, 8, 89, 90-96.
doi: 10.1016/j.pnpbp.2018.08.030

Abstract

Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) is characterized by persistent deficits in social communication, restricted and repetitive patterns of behavior, interests, or activities and often intellectual disabilities. ASD has a number of prevalent co-morbidities, such as sleep disorders, attention deficit/hyperactivity disorder and epilepsy. No effective treatment for the core symptoms of ASD is currently available. There is increasing interest in cannabinoids, especially cannabidiol (CBD), as monotherapy or add-on treatment for the core symptoms and co-morbidities of ASD. In this review we summarize the available pre-clinical and clinical data regarding the safety and effectiveness of medical cannabis, including CBD, in young ASD patients. Cannabidiol seems to be a candidate for the treatment of ASD. At present, however, there are no convincing pre-clinical or clinical data showing efficacy and safety of cannabinoid treatment in ASD patients.

KEYWORDS : Autism spectrum disorder; CBD; Medical cannabis