Gb Sciences, Inc. announced that their sponsored study investigating the effect of nanoparticle encapsulation of three cannabis-based terpenes on their potential efficacy in pain management was published in the International Journal of Pharmaceutics on March 25. For the Gb Sciences-sponsored study, researchers at the University of Seville in Spain have developed time-released, oral nanoparticles to deliver Gb Sciences' patent-protected chronic pain formulations, which are based on synergistic mixtures of terpenes. Terpenes are normally highly volatile, highly lipophilic molecules that are difficult to formulate into stable drug products, so Gb Sciences and their colleagues believe that nanocarriers can improve their stability, solubility, and bioavailability.

In the U.S. alone, chronic pain represents an estimated health burden of between $560 and $650 billion dollars, and an estimated 20.4% of U.S. adults suffer from chronic pain that significantly decreases their quality of life. Despite the widespread rates of addiction and death, opioids remain the standard of care treatment for most people with chronic pain. Concerns over those issues have made novel chronic pain treatments such as Gb Sciences' therapies an important and promising field of research and development.

The Gb Sciences-sponsored study tested the effect of poly(lactide-co-glycolide) nanoparticles containing the three terpenes versus the effect of free terpenes in a cell model with TRPV1 receptors, which are known pain receptors. The study found that the encapsulated terpene nanoparticles produced significantly higher calcium responses alone or in combinations versus the free terpenes alone or in combinations. The elevated calcium responses through the TRPV1 channels indicate greater activation of these pain receptors, which can have an analgesic effect via desensitization of these important pain receptors.