Regulation and Use of Cannabidiol in Croatia Compared with Selected European and International Models: From Consumer Products to Clinical Practice

Ana Batinic, Antonia Zecic, Zeljko Dujic, Davorka Sutlovic

Cannabidiol (CBD) has attracted growing scientific and clinical interest due to its potential therapeutic applications and increasing availability across Europe. This narrative review examined the regulatory status, market availability, and clinical use of CBD in Croatia in relation to selected European Union countries and international reference models (Canada and Australia). A literature search was conducted usi…

Selected Ion Channels in Chemotherapy-Induced Peripheral Neuropathy: Mechanisms and Translational Limits

Xunlang Zhang, Dekun Liu, Mingkai Yu, Ruibin Zhang, Lingling Liu, Jinyan Liu +4 more

Chemotherapy-induced peripheral neuropathy (CIPN) combines abnormal sensory firing with neuronal and axonal injury. This critical narrative review focuses on selected voltage-gated sodium, calcium, and Kv7 potassium channels and transient receptor potential channels in chemotherapy-specific systems and human studies. Acute modulation is distinguished from altered channel abundance or localization and persistent re…

Mitigating mitochondrial dysfunction: a novel strategy for Chinese botanical drugs against osteoporosis.

Shiyu Li, Hongyu Liu

Osteoporosis (OP) is a chronic metabolic disease characterized by reduced bone mass and impaired bone microstructure, posing a significant global health threat. Mitochondria, as the body's energy regulators, participate in numerous critical biological processes, and their dysfunction is a precipitating factor in various diseases. Accumulating evidence indicates that mitochondrial dysfunction-including abnormalitie…

Cannabinoid efficacy for pain: dose, chronicity and route

Kaylin J. Ellioff, Madalyn Critz, Nephi Stella, Michael R. Bruchas, Benjamin B. Land

Cannabis-based therapies are widely used for chronic pain, yet their mechanisms and therapeutic windows remain incompletely defined. This review synthesizes preclinical and clinical evidence on how dose, route of administration, treatment duration, and chemical composition shape analgesic efficacy and adverse-effect liability for Δ9-tetrahydrocannabinol (THC), cannabidiol (CBD), and select cannabis-derived terpene…

Effectiveness of THC-containing cannabis for inflammatory bowel disease: a systematic review.

Sebastian Jugl, Silvia Perez-Vilar, Steven Galati, Sukhminder K. Sandhu, Hung-Kai Chen, Shao-Hsuan Chang +7 more

Background Patients with inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) increasingly use cannabis. Studies investigating the effectiveness and safety of cannabis as a therapeutic option for IBD have reported conflicting findings, and recent reviews have not incorporated evidence from real-world studies. This systematic review assessed controlled non-interventional studies and interventional trials evaluating the effectiveness o…

Efficacy and safety of cannabinoids in the treatment of spasticity in multiple sclerosis: A systematic review of randomized clinical trials.

Letícia Hamm‐Buiar, Daniela Gorski, Marcela Harumi Kagueiama, Astrid Wiens

AIMS: This work aimed to evaluate the efficacy and safety of cannabinoids for the treatment of MS-related spasticity. METHODS: Systematic searches were conducted in PubMed, EMBASE, and LILACS on 2 December 2025. Randomized controlled trials evaluating natural or synthetic cannabinoids for MS-related spasticity were included. Studies published in non-Roman characters and those assessing recreational cannabis use we…

Hemp (Cannabis sativa L.) Phytochemicals and Their Potential in Agrochemical, Cosmetic, and Food Industries: A Review.

Daniela Trono

Hemp is a high-yield crop traditionally cultivated for fiber used in products such as paper, textiles, ropes, and animal bedding, and more recently for sustainable applications in biofuels, insulation, and bioplastics. Beyond fiber, hemp is rich in phytochemicals. More than 500 compounds including cannabinoids, terpenes, phenolics, phytosterols, and tocopherols are accumulated in leaves, flowers, and seeds, which…

Sublingual Administration for Pain Control: Pharmacology, Clinical Applications and Future Directions.

Sarang S. Koushik, Karina Gritsenko, Dhanesh D. Binda, Isaac S. Daybell, Nathan S. Hill, Jagun Raghavan +4 more

Sublingual (SL) drug delivery represents an important alternative route of analgesic administration, particularly in settings where rapid pain control is desired or oral and parenteral routes are limited. By enabling direct absorption through the oral mucosa, SL administration partially bypasses first-pass hepatic metabolism, potentially improving bioavailability and accelerating the onset of action for select med…

Clinical and Sociodemographic Correlates of Poor Medication Adherence in People With Bipolar Disorder: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis.

Francesco Bartoli, Daniele Cavaleri, Ilaria Riboldi, Chiara Alessandra Capogrosso, Carlo Bassetti, Marco Broccia +4 more

Objectives Poor adherence to psychopharmacological treatment may contribute to relapses in bipolar disorder (BD). We performed a systematic review and meta-analysis to identify factors associated with poor adherence in BD. Methods The protocol was registered in Open Science Framework Registries (https://doi.org/10.17605/OSF.IO/2KZFJ). We searched main electronic databases through March 2025. Random-effects meta-an…

Navigating dose-effect complexities and challenges in cannabinoid therapy for aging-related neurobiological changes.

Ivona-Maria Tudorancea, Leontina-Elena Filipiuc, Diana-Sabina Vieru, Cristina-Elena Dobre, Bogdan-Ionel Tamba

Growing evidence shows that brain aging is a time-dependent process, with very complex underlying mechanisms at molecular and cellular levels. The endocannabinoid system has emerged as a key regulator of brain homeostasis during aging, interfacing with neuroinflammation, neurogenesis, and blood-brain barrier integrity. However, the neurological impact of exogenous cannabinoids in the aging brain remains incomplete…

The relevance of cannabinoid receptor 2 in the central nervous system: an update over the last 3 years

Camilla Moliterni, Daniela Caissutti, Enrico Mandolini, Elena Fasciolo, Tuba Rana Caglar, Antonella Capozzi +2 more

The endocannabinoid system is a neuromodulatory network regulating synaptic plasticity, neuronal activity, and neuroinflammatory responses in both the central and peripheral nervous systems. The endocannabinoid system comprises endogenous ligands, termed endocannabinoids, and two principal receptors, cannabinoid receptor type 1 and type 2 (CB1R and CB2R). While CB1R is predominantly associated with the central ner…

Bioactivity and Regenerative Potential of Cannabidiol in Human Dental Pulp Stem Cells: A Scoping Review of In Vitro Studies.

Lorena Gomes Guimarães, Wesley Viana de Sousa, Silmara de Andrade Silva, Christianne Velozo, Carolina Viana Vasco Lyra, Larissa Sousa Rangel +3 more

Introduction Cannabidiol (CBD), a nonpsychoactive compound derived from Cannabis sativa, has shown potential to influence cellular processes that are important for dental tissue repair. The aim of this scoping review was to map in vitro studies evaluating the influence of CBD on the osteogenic/odontogenic differentiation of human dental pulp stem cells (hDPSCs) in order to contribute to a better understanding of i…

Phytocannabinoids and bone health.

Hayley Palmer, Diana E. Roopchand

Phytocannabinoids have received attention for their therapeutic properties, however, it is unclear how they affect bone homeostasis. Additionally, increased use of cannabis and hemp-derived products have raised questions about their impact on musculoskeletal health. This review summarizes recent studies that investigate the impact of phytocannabinoids on bone. The most well studied phytocannabinoid in relation to…

Cannabidiol in Neurology: Current Insights and Translational Perspectives

Magdalena Białoń, Marta Kędziora, Katarzyna Starowicz, Karolina Walczyńska-Dragon, Anna Kurek-Górecka

Efficacy, effectiveness and safety of medical cannabis in PTSD: a scoping review.

Joshua Aviram, Rostislav Belobrov, Shulamit Grinapol, Eyal Fruchter

Background Although current treatment guidelines recommend against cannabinoids for Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD), their use has increased in clinical settings despite fragmented evidence. This review critically examines the efficacy, effectiveness, and safety of cannabinoid-based interventions for PTSD. Methods We conducted a scoping review following PRISMA-ScR guidelines. Five databases were searched up…

Synthetic Cannabinoids: Metabolism, Biomarkers of Exposure and Advanced Analytical Strategies in Forensic and Clinical Toxicology.

Telma M. Gomes, Paula Guedes de Pinho, Ivone Nunes, José S. Câmara

In the last twenty years, synthetic cannabinoid receptor agonists (SCRAs), also frequently known as synthetic cannabinoids, have grown into one of the leading and structurally diverse types of new psychoactive substances. This has brought about major trouble for clinical and forensic work. Even though there have been significant advances in the field, there remain important gaps in the understanding of the mechani…

Efficacy and Safety of Cannabis Extracts for the Treatment of Osteoarthritis: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis of Preclinical and Human Studies.

Bedru J. Abafita, Ambrish Singh, Dawn Aitken, Benny Antony

BACKGROUND: Interest in cannabis extracts for chronic pain, including osteoarthritis (OA), is growing. This systematic review evaluated the efficacy of cannabis extracts in OA across preclinical and clinical studies. METHODS: A comprehensive literature search was performed using Medline via Ovid, Embase via Ovid, CINAHL, and Cochrane Central Register of Controlled Trials database to identify studies published up t…

Direct modulation of human GABA-A α1β2γ2 receptors by the endocannabinoid 2-arachidonoylglycerol: implications for cannabinoid-related ligands and limitations for anxiolytic drug development.

Edgar Mixcoha, Anabel Flores-Zamora, Ricardo Hernández-Miramontes, Jorge Alberto Hernández-Calderón, Susana Martiñón

Anxiety disorders are associated with impaired inhibitory neurotransmission mediated by γ-aminobutyric acid type A (GABA-A) receptors. Although benzodiazepines remain effective anxiolytics, their clinical utility is limited by sedation, cognitive impairment, tolerance, and dependence, prompting the search for mechanistically distinct GABAergic modulators. Among cannabinoid-related molecules, the strongest evidence…

Microbiome‐Endocannabinoidome Crosstalk as an Immunometabolic Rheostat in Inflammatory Disease

Reuben S. Maghembe, Donath Damian, Samweli Bahati, Abdalah Makaranga

ABSTRACTChronic inflammatory diseases reflect disrupted coordination among microbial ecology, epithelial barriers, lipid signaling, and immunity. The microbiome‐endocannabinoidome (eCBome) axis is already recognized as a regulator of metabolism, permeability, and inflammatory tone; the unresolved issue is how to distinguish direct crosstalk from parallel or associative changes. This review therefore operationalize…

Antiseizure Medications that Did Not Reach the Epilepsy Market: An Assessment of Factors Contributing to Their Failed Clinical Development Over the Last Three Decades.

Meir Bialer, Emilio Perucca

The EILAT Conferences on New Antiepileptic Drugs (AEDs), which have taken place biennially since 1992, have traditionally offered a forum for stakeholders from industry and academia to present updates on potential antiseizure medications (ASMs) in development. We reviewed publicly accessible data on compounds that were presented at EILAT conferences over this period but failed to reach the ASM market. The overarch…