NCT05832281: ACBD

Role of CBD in Improving Alexithymia

Terminated Phase 2 Last updated 26 January 2026

What this trial tests

Phase 2 trial testing Purysis CBD in Alexithymia in 5 participants. Terminated before completion.

Timeline

28 November 2023

Primary endpoint
31 August 2025

31 August 2025

Quick facts

Lead sponsor	University of California, San Diego
Phase	Phase 2
Status	Terminated
Study type	INTERVENTIONAL
Allocation	randomized
Design	parallel
Masking	triple
Primary purpose	treatment
Enrollment	5
Start date	28 November 2023
Primary completion	31 August 2025
Estimated completion	31 August 2025
Sites	1 location across United States

Drugs / interventions tested

• Purysis CBD — full drug profile →
• Placebo

Conditions studied

• Alexithymia — all drugs for Alexithymia →
• HIV — all drugs for HIV →

Sponsor

University of California, San Diego

Who can join

21 and older, any sex, with Alexithymia or HIV. Patients with the condition only — healthy volunteers not accepted.

Sponsor's own description

Given the treatments that are available today for HIV disease, people living with HIV (PLWH) can generally expect good medical outcomes. However, HIV is still a chronic disease and there are remaining barriers to achieving ideal health status and quality of life. One barrier may be a condition that is common among PLWH, called alexithymia, which can make it difficult for a person to name and describe the emotions that they are feeling. As a result, it is difficult to resolve negative emotional states, which can then lead to worse outcomes over time due to ongoing stress and related problems such as inflammation.

In this study the investigators will try to find out whether taking cannabidiol (CBD) helps PLWH who have alexithymia to resolve those negative emotional states, which may then reduce inflammation in the body as a result. CBD may work by enhancing the body's own chemical messengers that can help to regulate emotions and encourage emotional benefits. The investigators will compare a group of people who take CBD for 4 weeks to those who take a placebo, which is a substance that will closely resemble the CBD but will not contain any active drug. Study participants and the researchers who are working directly with the participants will not be able to tell which is the CBD and which is the placebo. The investigators will evaluate participants before and after the 4-week study period. They will also collect samples, such as blood, so that we can measure inflammation. The investigators will compare the two groups to see if those who took CBD have lower alexithymia and lower inflammation compared to those who took the placebo.

The potential benefit of this study is that CBD may be an effective treatment for alexithymia in PLWH, which may then improve both their emotional and physical health outcomes. This can help to address a remaining barrier to good medical outcomes for PLWH.

Publications & conference data

No peer-reviewed publications indexed yet for this trial.