Summary and future research directions
In this review, we summarized the molecular mechanisms and clinical experience in support of CBD as a potential therapeutic compound for various diseases. Among them, CBD has been approved for the treatment of seizures associated with Lennox-Gastaut and Dravet syndromes, as well as tuberous sclerosis complex in the USA and EU. Further clinical and mechanistic studies are necessary to fully explore the therapeutic potential of CBD in various diseases. Although CBD exhibited promising therapeutic benefits for some diseases in initial clinical trials, a large percentage of clinical data comes from case studies or open-label trials, which must be interpreted cautiously due to the absence of placebo control, leading to possible biased effects associated with CBD treatment. Therefore, more well-designed, randomized, placebo-controlled, double-blind clinical trials with diverse populations are needed to evaluate and support the therapeutic efficacy and utility of CBD for multiple disease states.