GB2487712A — Use of the cannabidiol (CBD) in combination with a standard anti-epileptic drug, for the treatment of epilepsy

USPTO Abstract

Use of the phytocannabinoid cannabidiol (CBD), at a dose of greater than 300 mg/day, in combination with a standard anti-epileptic drug (SAED) which acts via sodium or calcium channels, for the treatment of epilepsy. Preferably, the SAED is a drug modifying low-threshold or transient neuronal calcium currents, such as ethosuximide, or a drug reducing high-frequency neuronal firing and sodium-dependent action potentials and enhancing GABA effects, such as valproate. Types of epilepsy more particularly targeted are generalised seizures or temporal lobe seizures. Combinations including further phytocannabinoids, such as tetrahydrocannabivarin (THCV) and/or cannabidivarol (CBDV), in addition to CBD, are also considered. The examples relate to CBD combined with valproate (studies using the pentylenetetrazol (PTZ) and pilocarpine models), ethosuximide (in the PTZ model) or phenobarbital (in pilocarpine model).