Scientists at the University of Sydney have provided the first objective evidence that cannabinol (CBN) - a constituent of cannabis, can improve sleep. The research, published in the journal Neuropsychopharmacology, stated that cannabinol increases both non-rapid eye movement (NREM) and rapid eye movement (REM) sleep in rats, with human trials currently underway. NREM is deep sleep that promotes physical recovery and strengthens memories, while REM sleep is associated with dreaming and processing of emotions. The study aligns with the anecdotal evidence from cannabis users and could lead to new drugs to treat sleep disorders like insomnia
"For decades, cannabis folklore has suggested that aged cannabis makes consumers sleepy via the build-up of CBN, however, there was no convincing evidence for this," said lead author of the study Professor Jonathon Arnold.
"Our study provides the first objective evidence that CBN increases sleep, at least in rats, by modifying the architecture of sleep in a beneficial way," he added.
Scientists at the Lambert Initiative for Cannabinoid Therapeutics tested the effects of purified CBN on sleep in rats using high-tech monitoring.
"CBN was found to increase both NREM and REM sleep, leading to increased total sleep time, with a comparable effect to the known sleep drug zolpidem," said Mr Arnold.
The human trials are currently underway and according to a yet-to-be-published parallel study, promising results have been noticed among insomnia patients.
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What is CBN?
CBN is an end-product of the main intoxicating constituent of cannabis, delta9-tetrahydrocannabinol (THC). THC in cannabis is slowly converted to CBN over time, which suggests that the consumption of older cannabis is associated with a sleepier cannabis “high”.
While THC has an intoxicating effect on the brain's CB1 cannabinoid receptors, the influence of CBN was far weaker on them, according to the researchers.
Current pharmaceutical sleep therapies have issues with efficacy but also side-effect liabilities, which prompts individuals to seek alternative therapies like cannabis products. Experts suggest that the study and its findings could help push medical cannabis as treatment for patients in countries where it remains banned.
Notably, highly purified CBN products are already sold as sleep aids in the US, despite there being little high-quality scientific evidence to support this - until now.
