Promoting effects of cannabidiol on neurite growth and neuronal development in neuron-astrocyte sandwich coculture

(–)-Cannabidiol (CBD), a nonpsychoactive compound isolated from the Cannabis genus, has recently emerged as a promising research subject in neuroscience due to its potential therapeutic benefits against neurological disorders. However, there has been limited fundamental understanding of how CBD affects neuronal development, such as neurite outgrowth and axonal branching, at the cell level. This work investigates the effects of CBD on the early development of primary hippocampal neurons in a noncontact neuron-astrocyte coculture system. The immunocytochemical and quantitative analyses indicate that CBD of 10 μM promotes neurite growth, including neurite elongation and arborization, and accelerates the process of axon specification. The CBD treatment to the coculture system leads to noticeable increases in the longest-neurite length, primary-neurite number, and branch-point number, as well as the population of axon-determined neurons. The results provide informative insights into the therapeutic potential of CBD in neurological disorders, such as Alzheimer's disease.