Compound derived from marijuana interacts with antiepileptic drugs

Cannabidiol (CBD), is being studied as a potential anticonvulsant, and it has demonstrated effectiveness in animal models of epilepsy and in humans, an ongoing open label study conducted by investigators at the University of Alabama at Birmingham is testing the potential of CBD as a therapy for children and adults with difficult to control epilepsy. 

The participants are also taking other seizure drugs while they are receiving the investigational therapy, investigators checked the blood levels of their other seizure drugs to see if they changed. "With any new potential seizure medication, it is important to know if drug interactions exist and if there are labs that should be monitored while taking a specific medication," said lead author Dr Tyler Gaston.

Tests also showed that participants taking valproate and CBD had higher ALT and AST (liver function tests) compared with participants not taking valproate. Very high ALT and AST indicate abnormal liver function, but significant ALT and AST elevation occurred only in a small number of participants, and the levels returned to normal after discontinuation of valproate and CBD.

"While the interaction between CBD and clobazam has been established in the literature, there are currently no published human data on CBD’s potential interactions with other seizure medications," said Dr Gaston. "However, given the open label and naturalistic follow-up design of this study, our findings will need to be confirmed under controlled conditions."

The findings emphasise the importance of monitoring blood levels of antiepileptic drugs as well as liver function during treatment with CBD. "A perception exists that since CBD is plant based, that it is natural and safe; and while this may be mostly true, our study shows that CBD, just like other antiepileptic drugs, has interactions with other seizure drugs that patients and providers need to be aware of," said Dr Gaston.