Skip to main content

Advertisement

SpringerLink
Log in

Are cannabinoids a new treatment option for pain in patients with fibromyalgia?

  • Clinical Advance
  • Published:

From Nature Clinical Practice Rheumatology

View current issue Sign up to alerts

Abstract

Preliminary studies suggest that the synthetic cannabinoid nabilone might be an effective therapy in patients with fibromyalgia. Skrabek et al. performed a double-blind, randomized, placebo-controlled clinical trial to analyze the effects of nabilone on pain and quality of life in patients with fibromyalgia. After 4 weeks of treatment (0.5 mg once daily in week 1, 0.5 mg twice daily in week 2, 0.5 mg in the morning and 1 mg in the evening in week 3, and 1 mg twice daily in week 4), patients who received nabilone (n = 15) experienced significant improvements in clinical pain, measured on a visual analog scale (P <0.02), Fibromyalgia Impact Questionnaire score (P <0.02) and the 10-point anxiety scale of the Fibromyalgia Impact Questionnaire (P <0.02). After a 4-week wash-out period at the end of the trial, all benefits were lost in the nabilone cohort, which returned to their baseline levels of pain and quality of life. Patients who received placebo (n = 18) experienced no change throughout the study. Although nabilone was not associated with serious adverse effects, some patients did experience drowsiness, dry mouth, vertigo and ataxia as a result of treatment.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Log in via an institution

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Institutional subscriptions

References

  1. Crofford LJ et al. (2005) Pregabalin for the treatment of fibromyalgia syndrome: results of a randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled trial. Arthritis Rheum 52: 1264–1273

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  2. Staud R and Rodriguez ME (2006) Mechanisms of Disease: pain in fibromyalgia syndrome. Nat Clin Pract Rheumatol 2: 90–98

    Article  Google Scholar 

  3. Ashton JC and Milligan ED (2008) Cannabinoids for the treatment of neuropathic pain: clinical evidence. Curr Opin Investig Drugs 9: 65–75

    CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  4. Lutz B (2002) Molecular biology of cannabinoid receptors. Prostaglandins Leukot Essent Fatty Acids 66: 123–142

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  5. Marsicano G and Lutz B (2006) Neuromodulatory functions of the endocannabinoid system. J Endrocrinol Invest 29 (Suppl 3): 27–46

    CAS  Google Scholar 

  6. Rukwied R et al. (2003) Cannabinoid agonists attenuate capsaicin-induced responses in human skin. Pain 102: 283–288

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  7. Agarwal N et al. (2007) Cannabinoids mediate analgesia largely via peripheral type 1 cannabinoid receptors in nociceptors. Nat Neurosci 10: 870–879

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

Download references

Acknowledgements

The summary was written by Bryony Mearns, Associate Editor, Nature Clinical Practice.

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. R Staud is Professor of Medicine at the College of Medicine and Director of the Center for Musculoskeletal Pain Research, and EB Koo is an undergraduate student, at the University of Florida, Gainesville, FL, USA.,

    Roland Staud & Eubee B Koo

Authors
  1. Roland Staud
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Eubee B Koo
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Roland Staud.

Ethics declarations

Competing interests

The authors declare no competing financial interests.

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Cite this article

Staud, R., Koo, E. Are cannabinoids a new treatment option for pain in patients with fibromyalgia?. Nat Rev Rheumatol 4, 348–349 (2008). https://doi.org/10.1038/ncprheum0826

Download citation

  • Received:

  • Accepted:

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/ncprheum0826

  • Springer Nature Limited

Search

Navigation