Chronic CBD Treatment Improves Renal Function in a Rat Model of Metabolic Syndrome

Cannabidiol (CBD) is an emerging treatment for targeting risk factors of metabolic syndrome (MetS) and renal disease due to its anti-inflammatory effects, which may protect the kidney from injury associated with elevated systolic blood pressure. MetS is a cluster of conditions including the presentation of at least 3 of the following conditions: abdominal obesity, hypertension, glucose intolerance with or without insulin resistance, elevated LDL, and low HDL cholesterol levels, which are conditions individually associated with renal injury and/or dysfunction. The effects of CBD on renal function during MetS conditions has not been previously examined. To test the hypothesis that chronic CBD administration improves MetS-associated renal impairments, we used a cohort of 14-week-old, vehicle-treated Long Evan Otsuka Fatty rats (LETO, n=8), vehicle-treated Otsuka Long Evans Fatty rats (OLETF, n=8), and OLETF rats administered 175 mg/kg CBD by oral gavage for 5 weeks (OLETF-CBD; n=8). Urine was collected at five different time points to measure Na+ and K+ excretion and fractional excretion. On the final day of the study, plasma samples were obtained to measure creatinine to calculate eGFR. The eGFR in OLETF/CBD was 12.5% greater than OLETF. We expect to see the OLETF/CBD group with greater fractional excretion of Na+ compared to OLETF because of reduced sodium reabsorption and decreased renal ɑ-ENaC content, which may contribute to the reduced MetS-associated hypertension observed in these animals. CBD may be an early alternative intervention for renal disease and MetS associated conditions. CMCR 2020 Pilot Grant This abstract was presented at the American Physiology Summit 2025 and is only available in HTML format. There is no downloadable file or PDF version. The Physiology editorial board was not involved in the peer review process.