This is How CBD Lowers Blood Pressure: Croatian Research

If you have read a couple of blogs or articles on cannabidiol (CBD) you might have come across “lowers blood pressure” as one of the listed side effects that a CBD user might experience. Well, with the world of medical cannabis opening up it has now been established that this is not only a side effect but a potential therapeutic benefit of CBD.  A 2020 RCT study found that sustained cannabidiol dosing for a week is sufficient to reduce blood pressure in men. 

How does CBD lower blood pressure?

For a long time, the exact mechanisms through which CBD lowers blood pressure has not been clear. Some sources have suggested that it has to do with CBD’s antiinflammatory effects and others have suggested the involvement of CB1 & CB2 receptors: CBD is a weak agonist of both. A group of Croatian researchers now seem to have found a round peg for the round hole. And that has to do with catestatin peptides.

Details of the Study

The Croatian researchers first conducted a study to determine how effective CBD is at lowering blood pressure. This was called the HYPER-H21-4 trial. The placebo-controlled crossover trial found that “CBD is in fact a safe and valuable supplement for patients with treated and untreated hypertension.” The researchers also noticed that the level of “catestatin peptides” was higher in participants with untreated hypertension.

Next, the researchers set out to determine the role of catestatin peptides in the equation. Catestatin inhibits the sympathetic nervous system and is involved in the regulation of the cardiovascular, immune and metabolic systems.

The study involved a total of 54 patients who suffered from Grade 1 hypertension.  They were divided into two arms in a 1:1 ratio. The first arm received CBD for the first five weeks, had a two week washout, and then received placebo for another five weeks. The second arm received placebo for five weeks and then CBD treatment for another five weeks. 

The researchers were able to establish a positive correlation between drop in blood pressure and drop in cetastatin peptides after CBD administration. The baseline  cetastatin levels were also inversely related with the reduction in blood pressure levels. This shows that baseline catestatin levels are also helpful in predicting how a patient will respond to CBD. They further recommended larger trials that will look into other types of hypertension and their response to CBD treatment.