When it comes to quitting smoking tobacco, anyone that’s ever tried will speak of the difficulties that come from the attempt. However, there are many products on the market that report making it easier to quit smoking. However, they occasionally have side effects. Nicotine is a highly addictive chemical in tobacco products. It can lead to a number of harmful effects, especially in regards to withdrawal. That said, a recent study found that CBD offered relief for nicotine withdrawal symptoms. At this time, it has only been shown in rats. That said, it could mean potential use in humans for the same purpose.
Study
The study had the researchers take both male and female Wistar rats and make them dependent on nicotine using osmotic minipumps for two weeks. The minipumps gave them 3.15 mg/kg/day of nicotine. After the two weeks, the researchers removed the minipumps to induce spontaneous nicotine withdrawal symptoms. The researchers gave three groups CBD injections of doses of 7.5, 15, and 30 mg/kg/day for two weeks. The researchers started the CBD injections one week into the chronic nicotine infusion.
The control groups of the experiment included rats with nicotine minipumps that received vehicle injections of sesame oil. The researchers implanted the rats with saline minipumps received sesame oil injections or the highest 30 mg/kg/day dose of CBD.
Throughout the study, the researchers collected serum for the determination of CBD and nicotine concentrations. They also measured the mechanical sensitivity threshold and withdrawal scores. Finally, the researchers recorded the rats’ body weight.
Results
The researchers found that the CBD prevented the rats from exhibiting somatic signs of withdrawal and hyperalgesia during acute and protracted abstinence. This meant that the CBD prevented physical signs of withdrawal and sensitivity to pain. This occurred during the times the rats were receiving less or no nicotine.
The researchers also found that there wasn’t an observed effect that was affected by the dose for CBD. The saline minipump group did not show physical symptoms of withdrawal or hyperalgesia. The highest dose of CBD used didn’t alter the results.
Discussion
After seeing the lack of effects from the doses, the researchers concluded that the treatment dose would need to be more precise than they originally thought. The effects also worked akin to what other researchers found about CBD treating cocaine addiction. In both studies, the researchers found that the introduction of CBD was able to relieve the feelings of addictions and withdrawal of both substances. In both cases, people could use CBD as a potential treatment for them. However, researchers would need to perform more tests in order to determine whether it can actually be used as a treatment.
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