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From the plant

THCVTetrahydrocannabivarin

The propyl-chain homologue of THC, a CB1 and CB2 ligand whose activity varies with the assay.

FranceNarcotic: generic clauseInternationalHemp exemption
Level of detail

C₁₉H₂₆O₂

CAS 31262-37-0

Family
PhytocannabinoidMinor
Origin
Decarboxylation
Molar mass
286.40 g/mol

Updated on

In plain terms

THCV is a "cousin" of THC with a shorter side chain. It binds the same receptors, but laboratory studies describe it sometimes as a blocker, sometimes as a partial activator. In a small human trial, 10 mg a day for five days felt no different from a placebo.

Receptors and activity

Target network

CB1AntagonistKi = 75.4 nM · mouse[3H]CP55940 displacement, mouse brain membranes; competitive antagonism in [35S]GTPγS (apparent KB 93.1 nM)
  • Activates
  • Blocks or inhibits

The lower the cited value, the closer the target sits to THCV: 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 THCV.

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. CB1AntagonistKi = 75.4 nM · mouse52 out of 100

    Thomas et al. 2005, Br J Pharmacol (new tab) · [3H]CP55940 displacement, mouse brain membranes; competitive antagonism in [35S]GTPγS (apparent KB 93.1 nM)

  2. CB2AntagonistKi = 62.8 nM · human53 out of 100

    Thomas et al. 2005, Br J Pharmacol (new tab) · [3H]CP55940 displacement, CHO-hCB2 membranes; antagonism in [35S]GTPγS (apparent KB 10.1 nM); partial agonism in cAMP according to Zagzoog et al. 2020

  3. TRPV1Agonistno measured value cited
  4. GPR55Antagonistno measured value cited
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.

Pharmacology

Tetrahydrocannabivarin (THCV) is the propyl-chain (C3) homologue of Δ9-THC, isolated in 1971 from a Pakistani cannabis tincture and formed in the plant by decarboxylation of THCVA. It binds the CB1 (Ki = 75.4 nM, mouse brain) and CB2 (Ki = 62.8 nM, human receptor) receptors (Thomas et al. 2005); a competitive antagonist in [35S]GTPγS binding, it behaved as a partial agonist in a cAMP assay (Zagzoog et al. 2020). In a double-blind, placebo-controlled crossover trial in 10 men who used cannabis occasionally, 10 mg of pure oral THCV for five days was subjectively indistinguishable from placebo (Englund et al. 2016). In the THCV arm of a five-arm randomised pilot trial (62 adults with type 2 diabetes), 5 mg twice daily for 13 weeks lowered fasting plasma glucose compared with placebo, without changing HDL cholesterol, the primary endpoint (Jadoon et al. 2016). In France it falls within the 2024 benzo[c]chromene generic class but is excluded as long as its content does not exceed 0.3%.

Key sources.

History

Source
Cannabis sativa L.: present in the plant, formed by non-enzymatic decarboxylation of its acid, THCVA. It is generally present in very small amounts in the flowers; breeders are developing varieties richer in THCV (Walsh et al. 2021).

Biosynthetic pathway

CBGVA, the precursor of the propyl cannabinoids, is formed from divarinolic acid. THCA synthase converts it into THCVA (Walsh et al. 2021), a pathway that Luo et al. (2019) reconstituted in yeast. THCV derives from it by decarboxylation under heat or light.

Classification

Family, origin and source verification

Family

Phytocannabinoid › Minor

Presence in the plant

Neutral form: decarboxylation of a plant acid

Chemistry

Type Δ9-THC · C3 side chain · neutral form

Verification

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

Wikipedia (English)

No dedicated article.

References

  1. Radwan M.M. et al. 2021, Molecules 26:2774: inventory of 125 cannabinoids (isolation of THCV in 1971) (new tab)PMID 34066753
  2. Merkus F.W. 1971, Nature 232:579-580: cannabivarin and tetrahydrocannabivarin, two new constituents of hashish (new tab)PMID 4937510
  3. Thomas A. et al. 2005, Br J Pharmacol 146:917-926: Δ9-THCV, a CB1 and CB2 receptor antagonist (new tab)PMID 16205722
  4. Pertwee R.G. et al. 2007, Br J Pharmacol 150:586-594: Δ9-THC antagonised in vivo by Δ8- and Δ9-THCV in mice (new tab)PMID 17245367
  5. Zagzoog A. et al. 2020, Sci Rep 10:20405: in vitro and in vivo pharmacology of minor cannabinoids (human CB1/CB2) (new tab)PMID 33230154
  6. Englund A. et al. 2016, J Psychopharmacol: THCV 10 mg/day for 5 days, placebo-controlled crossover trial in 10 volunteers (new tab)PMID 26577065
  7. Jadoon K.A. et al. 2016, Diabetes Care 39:1777-1786: CBD and THCV in type 2 diabetes, randomised placebo-controlled pilot trial (new tab)PMID 27573936
  8. ANSM, consolidated list of substances classified as narcotics, updated 26/06/2026 (benzo[c]chromene class, THCV/THCVA ≤ 0.3% exclusion) (new tab)

Identifiers

Names

Common name
Tetrahydrocannabivarin
IUPAC name
(6aR,10aR)-6,6,9-trimethyl-3-propyl-6a,7,8,10a-tetrahydrobenzo[c]chromen-1-ol
Other names
Tetrahydrocannabivarine · THC-V

Identifiers

Formula
C₁₉H₂₆O₂
CAS
31262-37-0
PubChem CID
93147(new tab)
ChEBI
CHEBI:755032(new tab)
InChIKey
ZROLHBHDLIHEMS-HUUCEWRRSA-N
SMILES
CCCC1=CC(=C2[C@@H]3C=C(CC[C@H]3C(OC2=C1)(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