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Cannabidiol for the treatment of psychosis in Parkinson’s disease

Department of Neuropsychiatry and Medical Psychology, Ribeirão Preto Medical School, University of São Paulo, São Paulo, Brazil, awzuardi{at}fmrp.usp.br

Jas Crippa

Department of Neuropsychiatry and Medical Psychology, Ribeirão Preto Medical School, University of São Paulo, São Paulo, Brazil

JEC Hallak

Department of Neuropsychiatry and Medical Psychology, Ribeirão Preto Medical School, University of São Paulo, São Paulo, Brazil

JP Pinto

Department of Neuropsychiatry and Medical Psychology, Ribeirão Preto Medical School, University of São Paulo, São Paulo, Brazil

MHN Chagas

Department of Neuropsychiatry and Medical Psychology, Ribeirão Preto Medical School, University of São Paulo, São Paulo, Brazil

GGR Rodrigues

4 Department of Neuropsychiatry and Medical Psychology, Ribeirão Preto Medical School, University of São Paulo, São Paulo, Brazil

SM Dursun

Department of Psychiatry, University of Alberta, Edmonton, Alberta, Canada

V. Tumas

Department of Neuropsychiatry and Medical Psychology, Ribeirão Preto Medical School, University of São Paulo, São Paulo, Brazil

The management of psychosis in Parkinson’s disease (PD) has been considered a great challenge for clinicians and there is a need for new pharmacological intervention. Previously an antipsychotic and neuroprotective effect of Cannabidiol (CBD) has been suggested. Therefore, the aim of the present study was to directly evaluate for the first time, the efficacy, tolerability and safety of CBD on PD patients with psychotic symptoms. This was an open-label pilot study. Six consecutive outpatients (four men and two women) with the diagnosis of PD and who had psychosis for at least 3 months were selected for the study. All patients received CBD in flexible dose (started with an oral dose of 150 mg/day) for 4 weeks, in addition to their usual therapy. The psychotic symptoms evaluated by the Brief Psychiatric Rating Scale and the Parkinson Psychosis Questionnaire showed a significant decrease under CBD treatment. CBD did not worsen the motor function and decreased the total scores of the Unified Parkinson’s Disease Rating Scale. No adverse effect was observed during the treatment. These preliminary data suggest that CBD may be effective, safe and well tolerated for the treatment of the psychosis in PD.

Key Words: cannabidiol • CBD • Parkinson’s disease • psychosis • treatment

This version was published on November 1, 2009

Journal of Psychopharmacology, Vol. 23, No. 8, 979-983 (2009)
DOI: 10.1177/0269881108096519


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