Three-year study to look into therapeutic effects of THC in multiple sclerosis

The British Medical Research Council (MRC) will fund a three- year trial with THC in multiple sclerosis (MS). The MRC has awarded 2 million British Pounds (about 3 million Euros) to fund the CUPID study (Cannabinoid Use in Progressive Inflammatory Brain Disease) which will be led by Dr. John Zajicek, professor at the Peninsula Medical School and Derriford Hospital, in collaboration with Dr. Alan Thompson, professor at the National Hospital for Neurology and Neurosurgery and the Institute of Neurology, University College London.

The CUPID study, which is due to begin later this year, will recruit 500 patients with progressive MS from neurology centres across the UK. The trial will evaluate whether THC, the principal active compound found in cannabis might slow the development of disability.

The research will follow on from a previous trial carried out by the same team, called Cannabinoids in MS (CAMS), which focused on testing the symptomatic benefit from cannabinoids over a 15-week and 12-month period. Evidence was found to suggest that this compound had an effect on spasticity scores and measures of disability in patients who took THC for up to 12 months, but not those who stopped medication at 15 weeks. As CAMS was a short trial, it is hoped that, by studying patients on the CUPID trial for a longer three-year period, THC’s value in slowing the progression of MS due to its neuroprotective properties may become clearer.

Dr. Zajicek said: "Currently very few medicines are effective in treating MS and none have been shown to have any effect in the later stages of the disease. If the CUPID study demonstrates that cannabinoids do have a longer term effect on the progression of disability, there are potentially far-reaching implications, not only for the health of people with MS, but also for those with other neurodegenerative conditions."

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(Source: Press release of Peninsula Medical School of 24 May 2005)