Summary: In mice with chronic postoperative neuropathic pain, full‑spectrum hemp oil produced a pronounced reduction in mechanical pain sensitivity—nearly a tenfold improvement within seven hours after dosing.
Source: University of New Mexico
Researchers examine the effectiveness of consuming hemp oil extracted from the whole Cannabis plant using a chronic neuropathic pain animal model.
Researchers at the University of New Mexico (UNM) evaluated whether legally produced, full‑spectrum hemp oil can relieve chronic neuropathic pain. Using a validated animal model of long‑term postoperative nerve injury, the investigators found that oral administration of whole‑plant hemp oil markedly reduced mechanical pain sensitivity in mice for several hours, with effects approaching the pain thresholds of uninjured control animals.
In this context, “hemp” denotes Cannabis plants that contain less than 0.3 percent tetrahydrocannabinol (THC) by dry weight. Since the 2018 Farm Bill legalized hemp production under federal law, hemp‑derived products have become widely available across the United States. That regulatory change has enabled scientists to study low‑THC, full‑spectrum extracts as potential alternatives to conventional analgesics.
Chronic pain remains a major public health challenge, and opioid drugs contribute to a large share of preventable deaths and adverse events. Investigating plant‑based, full‑spectrum hemp oil as a potential therapeutic option responds to the need for safer, effective analgesics that may reduce reliance on high‑risk pharmaceuticals.
“Hemp varieties with low THC can still be psychoactive but typically produce fewer psychedelic effects while offering rapid relief for symptoms such as pain, anxiety, and low mood,” said co‑researcher Jacob Miguel Vigil, associate professor in the UNM Psychology Department. The UNM team designed experiments to assess moment‑to‑moment changes in mechanical pain sensitivity following consumption of a whole‑plant hemp extract.
The study used the FRICT‑ION model (Foramen Rotundum Inflammatory Constriction Trigeminal Infraorbital Nerve injury), a chronic neuropathic pain model that mimics long‑term postoperative nerve irritation in humans. In this model, a suture is placed adjacent to a trigeminal nerve branch to induce persistent mechanical hypersensitivity of the snout. By testing responses to calibrated von Frey filaments, the researchers measured mechanical pain thresholds over a six‑hour period after dosing.
Animals that received a single oral dose of full‑spectrum hemp oil combined with a peanut butter vehicle showed rapid and localized relief on the injured side: mechanical allodynia improved within one hour and reached a peak reversal at four hours, with significant benefit maintained throughout the six‑hour observation period. No change was observed on the contralateral, uninjured side, indicating a localized analgesic effect rather than a generalized loss of sensation.
Lead investigator Karin N. Westlund of UNM’s Department of Anesthesiology noted that the lab’s nerve injury model closely resembles human neuropathic pain behavior and that these findings demonstrate hemp oil’s ability to reverse pain‑related behaviors in this controlled preclinical setting.
Animal models have advantages for studying analgesic effects because they avoid human expectancy and placebo effects that can complicate clinical trials—an important consideration in Cannabis research, where participants sometimes report subjective psychedelic sensations regardless of whether they received an active compound.
The product tested in this study, marketed as “LyFeBaak” and produced by Organic‑Energetic Solutions, has been available legally in New Mexico since 2019. According to a co‑author involved in cultivation, their approach emphasizes mineral‑rich growing practices intended to optimize plant health. The authors and collaborators suggest that hemp’s analgesic effects likely derive from many constituents—cannabinoids, terpenes, and flavonoids—acting together in a so‑called entourage effect, rather than from any single isolated compound.
Previous clinical and preclinical work has indicated that isolated synthetic cannabinoids or single‑molecule analogues sometimes produce weaker symptom relief and more adverse effects compared with whole‑plant extracts. The current UNM findings support further investigation into how full‑spectrum hemp oil interacts with sensory, cognitive, and attentional systems that process pain.
The authors caution that long‑term safety and efficacy data for sustained hemp oil use remain limited, largely because decades of federal prohibition constrained research. Nonetheless, this study contributes to a growing evidence base suggesting that legally produced, low‑THC hemp extracts warrant additional study as potential therapeutic agents for chronic neuropathic pain.
Funding: This investigation received partial support from private donations to The University of New Mexico Medical Cannabis Research program.
About this neuroscience research article
Source:
University of New Mexico
Media Contacts:
Jacob Vigil – University of New Mexico
Original Research: Open access. Article title: “The Therapeutic Effectiveness of Full Spectrum Hemp Oil Using a Chronic Neuropathic Pain Model” by Jacob Miguel Vigil et al., published in Life. DOI: 10.3390/life10050069
Abstract
The Therapeutic Effectiveness of Full Spectrum Hemp Oil Using a Chronic Neuropathic Pain Model
Background: Placebo and expectancy effects complicate clinical measurements of Cannabis pharmacodynamics. The UNM team used the FRICT‑ION model to evaluate whole‑plant hemp oil on chronic neuropathic pain sensitivity in mice.
Methods: Male BALB/c mice underwent the FRICT‑ION procedure, which produces a chronic secondary mechanical hypersensitivity on the snout. Von Frey testing assessed mechanical pain thresholds from 0–6 hours after dosing. Groups included mice treated with 5 μL of whole‑plant hemp oil in a peanut butter vehicle (0.138 mg/kg), a vehicle‑only control, and naïve uninjured controls.
Results: Mechanical allodynia was reduced within one hour (large effect) with a peak reversal at four hours and significant benefit lasting at least six hours. No change occurred on the uninjured contralateral side, indicating a localized analgesic response.
Conclusion: These preclinical results support further research into how full‑spectrum hemp oil impacts multisensory and cognitive‑attentional processes involved in pain perception.
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