“This study was aimed to investigate whether treatment with purified cannabidiol (CBD) may counteract the development of experimental multiple sclerosis (MS), by targeting the PI3K/Akt/mTOR pathway.
Our results showed a clear downregulation of the PI3K/Akt/mTOR pathway following EAE induction. CBD treatment was able to restore it, increasing significantly the phosphorylation of PI3K, Akt and mTOR. Also, an increased level of BNDF in CBD-treated mice seems to be involved in the activation of PI3K/Akt/mTOR pathway.
In addition, our data demonstrated that therapeutic efficacy of CBD treatment is due to reduction of pro-inflammatory cytokines, like IFN-γ and IL-17 together with an up-regulation of PPARγ. Finally, CBD was found to promote neuronal survival by inhibiting JNK and p38 MAP kinases.
These results provide an interesting discovery about the regulation of the PI3K/Akt/mTOR pathway by cannabidiol administration, that could be a new potential therapeutic target for MS management.”