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From the plant

CBDCannabidiol

A principal hemp phytocannabinoid with no 'high': it modulates CB1 without binding it the way THC does.

Hemp exemption
Level of detail

C₂₁H₃₀O₂

CAS 13956-29-1

Family
PhytocannabinoidPrincipal
Origin
Decarboxylation
First described
1940
Molar mass
314.46 g/mol

Updated on

In plain terms

CBD is one of the main cannabinoids of hemp. Unlike THC it does not make you 'high': in a controlled trial, 100 mg taken by mouth produced no felt effects different from placebo. A medicine made of purified CBD is authorised for the seizures of three rare conditions: Lennox-Gastaut syndrome, Dravet syndrome and tuberous sclerosis complex.

This page is the CBD entry of Canna·wiki, the Phytogrammes cannabinoid wiki: structure, targets, pharmacology, legal status in France and primary sources.

Receptors and activity

Target network

CB1Modulatorno measured value
  • Activates
  • Blocks or inhibits
  • Binds or modulates

The lower the cited value, the closer the target sits to CBD: one ring per factor of 100. A target with no measured value stays on the edge.

Where these targets live

Where each target has been found in humans, according to the cited studies. The map shows the target, not an effect of CBD.

Brain, side view
Body, front view
Blood

CB1CB1 found in 7 regions of the body

  1. Basal gangliadenseMost dense in basal ganglia outflow nuclei1
  2. CerebellumdenseVery dense in the cerebellum1
  3. HippocampusdenseVery high concentrations in the hippocampus2
  4. AmygdaladenseHigh concentrations in the amygdala2
  5. CortexpresentPresent throughout the neocortex2
  6. Adipose tissuepresentExpressed in adipose tissue3
  7. GutpresentColonic epithelium, smooth muscle and plexus4

Map sources

  1. Herkenham M et al. Cannabinoid receptor localization in brain. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A, 1990 (new tab)
  2. Glass M et al. Cannabinoid receptors in the human brain: a detailed anatomical and quantitative autoradiographic study in the fetal, neonatal and adult human brain. Neuroscience, 1997 (new tab)
  3. Engeli S et al. Activation of the peripheral endocannabinoid system in human obesity. Diabetes, 2005 (new tab)
  4. Wright K et al. Differential expression of cannabinoid receptors in the human colon: cannabinoids promote epithelial wound healing. Gastroenterology, 2005 (new tab)

Cited values

  1. CB1Modulatorno measured value cited
  2. CB2Inverse agonistno measured value cited
  3. 5-HT1AAgonistno measured value cited
  4. TRPV1AgonistEC50 = 1 µM · human33 out of 100

    De Petrocellis et al. 2011, Br J Pharmacol: TRP channels (new tab) · intracellular Ca2+ (fluorescence), HEK-293 hTRPV1; 3.2–3.5 µM in Bisogno et al. 2001

  5. TRPV2AgonistEC50 = 1.3 µM · rat32 out of 100

    De Petrocellis et al. 2011, Br J Pharmacol: TRP channels (new tab) · intracellular Ca2+ (fluorescence), HEK-293 expressing rat TRPV2; efficacy 40.5% of ionomycin

  6. TRPA1AgonistEC50 = 110 nM · rat49 out of 100

    De Petrocellis et al. 2011, Br J Pharmacol: TRP channels (new tab) · intracellular Ca2+ (fluorescence), HEK-293 expressing rat TRPA1

  7. GPR55AntagonistIC50 = 445 nM · human39 out of 100

    Ryberg et al. 2007, Br J Pharmacol (new tab) · [35S]GTPγS, HEK293-hGPR55, against CP55940 at EC80

Bar length follows the measured value (Ki, Kd, EC50 or IC50), on one scale shared by every entry, from 100 µM to 0.1 nM. A target with no cited value has no bar.

Measured effects

Psychoactive intensityIntensity of the felt effect (« feel drug effect », « high ») on a validated scale, compared with placebo.

WeakLow confidence

4,500 mg orally · Schoedel 2018difference from placebo: 10 / 100

Measured anxietyAnxiety measured on a validated scale, often during a laboratory stressor; it can fall or rise depending on the dose.

Effect reported, size not measured · decreaseLow confidence

300 mg orally, under a laboratory stressor · Zuardi 2017

Cognitive impairmentLower performance on attention, memory or speed tests, compared with placebo.

Effect reported, size not measured · decreaseVery low confidence

600 mg orally, in patients with social anxiety disorder · Bergamaschi 2011

SleepinessReported sleepiness or measured sedation, compared with placebo.

Not distinct from placeboModerate confidence

up to 900 mg orally · Zuardi 2017

Reported hungerReported hunger or measured food intake, compared with placebo.

Not distinct from placeboVery low confidence

up to 200 mg orally, in patients · Jadoon 2016difference from placebo: 1 / 100

Levels computed from placebo-controlled human trials: difference from placebo on 100, at the dose and route stated. Read the method

Pharmacology

Isolated in 1940 from Minnesota wild hemp by Adams, Hunt and Clark (J. Am. Chem. Soc. 62:196), CBD only received its structure in 1963 (Mechoulam and Shvo, Tetrahedron 19:2073). The plant forms it as an acid, CBDA, made by CBDA synthase from CBGA; neutral CBD appears through decarboxylation. Its affinity for CB1 and CB2 is low: it behaves as a negative allosteric modulator of CB1, reducing the efficacy and potency of 2-AG and Δ9-THC in CB1-expressing cells (Laprairie et al., 2015), and as an inverse agonist at human CB2 (Thomas et al., 2007). In vitro it activates the human 5-HT1A receptor (Russo et al., 2005), human TRPV1 (EC50 3.2 to 3.5 µM according to Bisogno et al., 2001; 1.0 µM according to De Petrocellis et al., 2011), rat TRPV2 (EC50 1.25 µM) and TRPA1 (EC50 0.11 µM); it antagonises human GPR55 (IC50 445 nM; Ryberg et al., 2007) and inhibits the nucleoside transporter ENT1 in murine cells (Ki < 250 nM; Carrier et al., 2006). In humans, 100 mg of oral CBD produced no subjective effects different from placebo (Spindle et al., 2020); during public speaking, 300 mg reduced measured anxiety, but 100 and 900 mg did not (Zuardi et al., 2017). Purified plant-derived CBD has been FDA-approved since 25 June 2018 (Epidiolex) for seizures of Lennox-Gastaut and Dravet syndromes, and authorised in the EU since 19 September 2019 (Epidyolex) for the same seizures, together with clobazam, from 2 years of age. In the pivotal Dravet syndrome trial, convulsive-seizure frequency fell by 22.8 percentage points more than with placebo (Devinsky et al., 2017). In France CBD is not classified as a narcotic; hemp extracts and their products must contain no more than 0.30% Δ9-THC.

CBD's interactions with medicines and supplements, graded by strength of evidence and by severity, are gathered with their sources in the interactions dossier.

Key sources.

Approved medicines

Epidiolex (cannabidiol, solution buvable)
Epidyolex

History

Source
Cannabis: neutral form arising from decarboxylation of CBDA (heat, light, ageing)

Biosynthetic pathway

Non-enzymatic: decarboxylation of CBDA, which CBDA synthase (an FAD-dependent oxidocyclase) forms from CBGA (Taura et al., 1996).

Classification

Family, origin and source verification

Family

Phytocannabinoid › Principal

Presence in the plant

Neutral form: decarboxylation of a plant acid

Chemistry

Type CBD · C5 side chain · neutral form

Verification

Every fact on this entry was checked against its primary sources on 20 October 2026.

Wikipedia (English)

Cannabidiol (new tab)

Article paired by the molecule's structure (InChIKey), revision read on 19 October 2026. Read as a second opinion, never cited as a source.

References

  1. Adams, Hunt & Clark 1940, J. Am. Chem. Soc. 62:196: isolation (new tab)DOI 10.1021/ja01858a058
  2. Mechoulam & Shvo 1963, Tetrahedron 19:2073: structure (new tab)PMID 5879214
  3. Laprairie et al. 2015, Br J Pharmacol: CB1 NAM (new tab)PMID 26218440
  4. Thomas et al. 2007, Br J Pharmacol: CB2 inverse agonist (new tab)PMID 17245363
  5. De Petrocellis et al. 2011, Br J Pharmacol: TRP channels (new tab)PMID 21175579
  6. Spindle et al. 2020, Drug Alcohol Depend: subjective effects of oral CBD (new tab)PMID 32247649
  7. Zuardi et al. 2017, Front Pharmacol: inverted U-shaped curve, public speaking (new tab)PMID 28553229
  8. Devinsky et al. 2017, N Engl J Med: Dravet trial (new tab)PMID 28538134
  9. CJEU, press release 141/20 (C-663/18) (new tab)

Identifiers

Names

Common name
Cannabidiol
IUPAC name
2-[(1R,6R)-3-methyl-6-prop-1-en-2-ylcyclohex-2-en-1-yl]-5-pentylbenzene-1,3-diol

Identifiers

Formula
C₂₁H₃₀O₂
CAS
13956-29-1
PubChem CID
644019(new tab)
ChEBI
69478(new tab)
InChIKey
QHMBSVQNZZTUGM-ZWKOTPCHSA-N
SMILES
CCCCCC1=CC(=C(C(=C1)O)[C@@H]2C=C(CC[C@H]2C(=C)C)C)O

Machine-readable entry (JSON)

LLM ingestion format: a structured superset of the entry (identifiers, binding, versioned legal status). Full corpus.

In the Journal