Animal studies suggest CBD could reduce alcohol intake and motivation to drink, while also protecting against alcohol-related liver and brain damage through anti-inflammatory and antioxidant mechanisms.
People interested in CBD research, alcohol harm reduction, or novel approaches to alcohol use disorder treatment.
CBD reduced alcohol intake, relapse, liver fibrosis, and brain damage in animal studies
What the researchers found
In animal models, CBD reduced overall alcohol drinking by decreasing ethanol intake, motivation for ethanol, relapse, anxiety, and impulsivity. CBD also reduced alcohol-related liver steatosis and fibrosis, and prevented alcohol-related neuronal loss.
Why it matters
Alcohol use disorder affects millions globally with limited treatment options. If CBD can simultaneously reduce drinking behavior and protect organs already damaged by alcohol, it could represent a dual-purpose intervention unlike anything currently available.
The numbers in context
16 million adults in the US suffer from alcohol use disorders. CBD reduced alcohol-related liver damage by reducing lipid accumulation, stimulating autophagy, modulating inflammation, and reducing oxidative stress.
How the study worked
Narrative review of experimental studies examining CBD's effects on alcohol drinking behavior, alcohol-related liver toxicity (steatosis, fibrosis), and alcohol-related brain damage in animal models.
What this study cannot tell us
All evidence comes from animal models. No human clinical trials for CBD in alcohol use disorder were reviewed. Doses and routes of administration in animal studies may not translate to humans. Narrative review methodology is less rigorous than systematic review.
How to read the evidence
Preliminary: based entirely on animal model data with no human clinical trials reviewed.
When this study was published
Published in 2019.
The bigger picture
Most alcohol use disorder treatments focus on either reducing drinking or managing organ damage, but not both. CBD's potential to address both simultaneously through multiple mechanisms could open a new harm reduction approach for people with ongoing alcohol use.
Questions still open
- Will CBD's effects on alcohol intake translate from animal models to humans? What doses would be needed? Could CBD help people who continue drinking by protecting their organs even without achieving abstinence?
Common questions
Can CBD help with alcohol addiction?
How might CBD protect the liver from alcohol damage?
Read the original research
Therapeutic Prospects of Cannabidiol for Alcohol Use Disorder and Alcohol-Related Damages on the Liver and the Brain.
Frontiers in pharmacology, 10, 627
Citation
De Ternay, Julia; Naassila, Mickaël; Nourredine, Mikail; Louvet, Alexandre; Bailly, François; Sescousse, Guillaume; Maurage, Pierre; Cottencin, Olivier; Carrieri, Patrizia Maria; Rolland, Benjamin. (2019). Therapeutic Prospects of Cannabidiol for Alcohol Use Disorder and Alcohol-Related Damages on the Liver and the Brain.. Frontiers in pharmacology, 10, 627. https://doi.org/10.3389/fphar.2019.00627
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