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Efficacy of a Controlled Short-term Trial of Cannabidiol (CBD) Ingestion on Reducing Symptomatic Response and Facilitating Recovery After Induced Muscle Injury

Efficacy of a Controlled Short-term Trial of Cannabidiol (CBD) Ingestion on Reducing Symptomatic Response and Facilitating Recovery After Induced Muscle Injury

Status
Completed
Phases
Phase 2
Study type
Interventional
Source
ClinicalTrials.gov
Registry ID
NCT04586712
Enrollment
34
Registered
2020-10-14
Start date
2021-03-01
Completion date
2024-03-21
Last updated
2025-08-06

For informational purposes only — not medical advice. Sourced from public registries and may not reflect the latest updates. Terms

Conditions

Muscle Injury, Pain Relief, Recovery

Brief summary

We aim to determine the efficacy of a controlled short-term trial of CBD ingestion for reducing symptomatic response and facilitating recovery following induced muscle injury. We will assess, in serial fashion, symptomatic response, functional limitations and recovery of the quadriceps muscle following induced injury in which CBD oil (or placebo) will be delivered using a sublingual route of administration during a 15-day pre-injury consumption and post-injury recovery phase. A double-blind, randomized, two-arm study design will be used and participants will be randomly assigned to either an active dose (n=15) or vehicle control group (n=15). The clinical outcomes include measures of muscular pain and disability along with measures of pain-related fear and anxiety.

Detailed description

Current research has shown evidence that phytocannabinoids may have a promising therapeutic potential in a variety of physical and psychological ailments, and cannabidiol (CBD) is of particular interest due to its positive safety profile, non-intoxicating effects and widespread capabilities in a number of musculoskeletal diseases. Three primary reasons people consume CBD on a global basis, in addition to the fact that it is non-intoxicating, are for symptomatic (pain) relief, anxiety reduction, and improved sleep quality. Very little is known about CBD and how it functions in the body from both an efficacy and mechanistic perspective, especially in humans. There is a large consumer base for this product that will be expanding exponentially in the next few years. Most of the evidence available is anecdotal from the personal testimony of consumers. We aim to determine the efficacy of a controlled short-term trial of CBD ingestion for reducing symptomatic response and facilitating recovery following induced muscle injury. We will assess, in serial fashion, symptomatic response, functional limitations and recovery of the quadriceps muscle following induced injury in which selected doses of CBD oil (or placebo) will be delivered using a sublingual route of administration during a 15-day pre-injury consumption and post-injury recovery phase. A double-blind, randomized, two-arm study design will be used and participants will be randomly assigned to either an active dose (n=15) or vehicle control group (n=15). Our clinical outcomes include measures of muscular pain and disability along with measures of pain-related fear and anxiety. Our laboratory-based study design is desirable and advantageous because it is a controlled method of tracking individuals using an experimental model of injury that is translatable to clinical populations. This exploratory study will provide preliminary data needed to support the hypotheses of a planned larger scale application.

Interventions

DRUGActive CBD

Participants will be provided a viscous liquid in a bottle with a syringe dropper containing CBD-extract oil at concentrations of 2000mg/30mL (high).

DRUGVehicle Control (Placebo)

Participants will be provided a viscous liquid in a bottle with a syringe dropper containing placebo containing no CBD oil (0mg/30 mL).

Sponsors

Consortium for Medical Marijuana Clinical Outcomes Research
CollaboratorOTHER
University of Florida
Lead SponsorOTHER

Study design

Allocation
RANDOMIZED
Intervention model
PARALLEL
Primary purpose
TREATMENT
Masking
TRIPLE (Subject, Investigator, Outcomes Assessor)

Eligibility

Sex/Gender
ALL
Age
18 Years to 35 Years
Healthy volunteers
Yes

Inclusion criteria

a) male and female adults between the ages of 18-35 years and b) English speaking, and c) both female and male subjects must be currently practicing acceptable methods of birth control, such as abstinence, and methods of contraception (barriers, oral, patch or other prophylactic methods).

Exclusion criteria

a) current use of cannabis products on a regular basis or positive urine test for cannabis, b) current use of tobacco or nicotine containing products on a regular basis, c) currently taking prescription medication for management of anxiety disorders, depression, or ADHD, d) current use of nutritional or dietary supplements on a daily basis (e.g. ephedra, yohimbine, pro-hormones, creatine or anabolics), e) current use of OTC anti-inflammatory medications (e.g. Advil, Aleve, Aspirin) on a regular basis, f) history of seizure disorder, family history of seizure disorder, current or history of head trauma, liver disease, renal (kidney) disease, cardiovascular disease (including, but not limited to: hypotension, hypertension, tachycardia, and syncope), g) current medical condition that would prevent the participant from performing strenuous resistance exercise, h) weight lifting for the lower extremities (legs) more than twice a week, i) currently experiencing pain in the hips, leg, or knee region, j) pregnancy, lactating or positive urine pregnancy test, k) known allergy to CBD or coconut/sesame oil, l) an allergy to tree nuts (coconut).

Design outcomes

Primary

MeasureTime frameDescription
Self-report Ratings of Muscle SorenessBaseline (Day 1)A muscle soreness inventory will be used to self-report the level of soreness. The muscle soreness inventory consists of rating soreness on a visual analog scale (VAS). A 10cm line is drawn with 0 (no soreness) on the left pole and 10 (extreme soreness) on the right pole.
Self-report Ratings of DisabilityBaseline (Day 1)Disability will be measured using the Lower Extremity Functional Scale (LEFS). LEFS score = SUM (points for all 20 activities) Interpretation: Minimum score: 0 Maximum score: 80 The lower the score the greater the disability.

Secondary

MeasureTime frameDescription
Pain Catastrophizing Scale (PCS)Baseline (Day 1)13-item, 5-point rating scale used to assess different thoughts that may be associated with experiencing pain. The PCS total score is computed by summing responses to all 13 items. PCS total scores range from 0 - 52. The PCS subscales are computed by summing the responses to the following items: Rumination: Sum of items 8, 9, 10, 11; Magnification: Sum of items 6, 7, 13; and Helplessness: Sum of items 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 12; higher scores indicate worse outcome.
Pain Anxiety Symptom Scale - 20 (PASS-20)Pre-exercise (Day 10)20 item, 5-point rating scale that assesses 4 theoretically distinct components of pain-related anxiety including cognitive anxiety (items 1 to 5), fear of pain (items 6 to 10), escape/avoidance behavior (items 11 to 15), and physiological anxiety (items 16 to 20). Each subscale is worth 20 points. Subscales are combined to compute total score. The total scale ranges from 0 to 100; higher scores indicate worse outcome.
Maximal Voluntary Isometric Contraction (MVIC)Pre-exercise (Day 10)maximum voluntary force produced during a static muscle contraction
Fear of Pain Questionnaire (FPQ-9)Baseline (Day 1)9-item, 5-point rating scale to quantify fear of specific situations that normally produce pain. Each subscale contains 3 items, so the possible range of scores for each subscale is 3 through 15. Subscales are combined to compute total score. The Total score has a range of 9 through 45; higher scores indicate worse outcome.
Pain Anxiety Symptom Scale (PASS-20)Post-exercise (Day 15)20 item, 5-point rating scale that assesses 4 theoretically distinct components of pain-related anxiety including cognitive anxiety (items 1 to 5), fear of pain (items 6 to 10), escape/avoidance behavior (items 11 to 15), and physiological anxiety (items 16 to 20). Each subscale is worth 20 points. Subscales are combined to compute total score. The total scale ranges from 0 to 100; higher scores indicate worse outcome.

Countries

United States

Participant flow

Participants by arm

ArmCount
Active CBD-extract
Active Dose (2000mg/30mL hemp extract = 67.5mg/day) Active CBD: Participants will be provided a viscous liquid in a bottle with a syringe dropper containing CBD-extract oil at concentrations of 2000mg/30mL (high).
15
Vehicle-Control (Placebo)
(0mg/30mL hemp extract = no hemp extract) Vehicle Control (Placebo): Participants will be provided a viscous liquid in a bottle with a syringe dropper containing placebo containing no CBD oil (0mg/30 mL).
14
Total29

Baseline characteristics

CharacteristicActive CBD-extractVehicle-Control (Placebo)Total
Age, Categorical
<=18 years
0 Participants0 Participants0 Participants
Age, Categorical
>=65 years
0 Participants0 Participants0 Participants
Age, Categorical
Between 18 and 65 years
15 Participants14 Participants29 Participants
Age, Continuous20.1 years
STANDARD_DEVIATION 1.4
19.8 years
STANDARD_DEVIATION 1.6
20.0 years
STANDARD_DEVIATION 1.5
Ethnicity (NIH/OMB)
Hispanic or Latino
3 Participants1 Participants4 Participants
Ethnicity (NIH/OMB)
Not Hispanic or Latino
12 Participants13 Participants25 Participants
Ethnicity (NIH/OMB)
Unknown or Not Reported
0 Participants0 Participants0 Participants
Race (NIH/OMB)
American Indian or Alaska Native
0 Participants0 Participants0 Participants
Race (NIH/OMB)
Asian
0 Participants0 Participants0 Participants
Race (NIH/OMB)
Black or African American
1 Participants0 Participants1 Participants
Race (NIH/OMB)
More than one race
6 Participants5 Participants11 Participants
Race (NIH/OMB)
Native Hawaiian or Other Pacific Islander
0 Participants0 Participants0 Participants
Race (NIH/OMB)
Unknown or Not Reported
0 Participants0 Participants0 Participants
Race (NIH/OMB)
White
8 Participants9 Participants17 Participants
Region of Enrollment
United States
15 participants14 participants29 participants
Sex: Female, Male
Female
10 Participants10 Participants20 Participants
Sex: Female, Male
Male
5 Participants4 Participants9 Participants

Adverse events

Event typeEG000
affected / at risk
EG001
affected / at risk
deaths
Total, all-cause mortality
0 / 150 / 14
other
Total, other adverse events
0 / 150 / 14
serious
Total, serious adverse events
0 / 150 / 14

Outcome results

Primary

Self-report Ratings of Disability

Disability will be measured using the Lower Extremity Functional Scale (LEFS). LEFS score = SUM (points for all 20 activities) Interpretation: Minimum score: 0 Maximum score: 80 The lower the score the greater the disability.

Time frame: Baseline (Day 1)

ArmMeasureValue (MEAN)Dispersion
Active CBD-extractSelf-report Ratings of Disability77.2 score on a scaleStandard Deviation 5.4
Vehicle-Control (Placebo)Self-report Ratings of Disability76.7 score on a scaleStandard Deviation 4.6
Primary

Self-report Ratings of Disability

Disability will be measured using the Lower Extremity Functional Scale (LEFS). LEFS score = SUM (points for all 20 activities) Interpretation: Minimum score: 0 Maximum score: 80 The lower the score the greater the disability.

Time frame: Pre-exercise (Day 10)

ArmMeasureValue (MEAN)Dispersion
Active CBD-extractSelf-report Ratings of Disability77.1 score on a scaleStandard Deviation 4.8
Vehicle-Control (Placebo)Self-report Ratings of Disability75.9 score on a scaleStandard Deviation 5.4
Primary

Self-report Ratings of Disability

Disability will be measured using the Lower Extremity Functional Scale (LEFS). LEFS score = SUM (points for all 20 activities) Interpretation: Minimum score: 0 Maximum score: 80 The lower the score the greater the disability.

Time frame: Post-exercise (Day 12)

ArmMeasureValue (MEAN)Dispersion
Active CBD-extractSelf-report Ratings of Disability67.7 score on a scaleStandard Deviation 13.2
Vehicle-Control (Placebo)Self-report Ratings of Disability60.1 score on a scaleStandard Deviation 27.4
Primary

Self-report Ratings of Muscle Soreness

A muscle soreness inventory will be used to self-report the level of soreness. The muscle soreness inventory consists of rating soreness on a visual analog scale (VAS). A 10cm line is drawn with 0 (no soreness) on the left pole and 10 (extreme soreness) on the right pole.

Time frame: Baseline (Day 1)

ArmMeasureValue (MEAN)Dispersion
Active CBD-extractSelf-report Ratings of Muscle Soreness0.0 score on a scaleStandard Deviation 0
Vehicle-Control (Placebo)Self-report Ratings of Muscle Soreness0.0 score on a scaleStandard Deviation 0
Primary

Self-report Ratings of Muscle Soreness

A muscle soreness inventory will be used to self-report the level of soreness. The muscle soreness inventory consists of rating soreness on a visual analog scale (VAS). A 10cm line is drawn with 0 (no soreness) on the left pole and 10 (extreme soreness) on the right pole.

Time frame: Pre-exercise (Day 10)

ArmMeasureValue (MEAN)Dispersion
Active CBD-extractSelf-report Ratings of Muscle Soreness4.0 score on a scaleStandard Deviation 7.4
Vehicle-Control (Placebo)Self-report Ratings of Muscle Soreness2.3 score on a scaleStandard Deviation 5.9
Primary

Self-report Ratings of Muscle Soreness

A muscle soreness inventory will be used to self-report the level of soreness. The muscle soreness inventory consists of rating soreness on a visual analog scale (VAS). A 100mm line is drawn with 0 (no soreness) on the left pole and 100 (extreme soreness) on the right pole.

Time frame: Post-exercise (Day 12)

ArmMeasureValue (MEAN)Dispersion
Active CBD-extractSelf-report Ratings of Muscle Soreness47.8 score on a scaleStandard Deviation 27.3
Vehicle-Control (Placebo)Self-report Ratings of Muscle Soreness61.6 score on a scaleStandard Deviation 22.3
Secondary

Fear of Pain Questionnaire (FPQ-9)

9-item, 5-point rating scale to quantify fear of specific situations that normally produce pain. Each subscale contains 3 items, so the possible range of scores for each subscale is 3 through 15. Subscales are combined to compute total score. The Total score has a range of 9 through 45; higher scores indicate worse outcome.

Time frame: Pre-exercise (Day 10)

ArmMeasureValue (MEAN)Dispersion
Active CBD-extractFear of Pain Questionnaire (FPQ-9)21.5 score on a scaleStandard Deviation 5
Vehicle-Control (Placebo)Fear of Pain Questionnaire (FPQ-9)18.8 score on a scaleStandard Deviation 7.1
Secondary

Fear of Pain Questionnaire (FPQ-9)

9-item, 5-point rating scale to quantify fear of specific situations that normally produce pain. Each subscale contains 3 items, so the possible range of scores for each subscale is 3 through 15. Subscales are combined to compute total score. The Total score has a range of 9 through 45; higher scores indicate worse outcome.

Time frame: Baseline (Day 1)

ArmMeasureValue (MEAN)Dispersion
Active CBD-extractFear of Pain Questionnaire (FPQ-9)23.8 score on a scaleStandard Deviation 5.4
Vehicle-Control (Placebo)Fear of Pain Questionnaire (FPQ-9)21.3 score on a scaleStandard Deviation 5.7
Secondary

Maximal Voluntary Isometric Contraction (MVIC)

maximum voluntary force produced during a static muscle contraction measured as Newton-meters.

Time frame: Post-exercise (Day 15)

ArmMeasureValue (MEAN)Dispersion
Active CBD-extractMaximal Voluntary Isometric Contraction (MVIC)128.4 force output in Newton-metersStandard Deviation 50.2
Vehicle-Control (Placebo)Maximal Voluntary Isometric Contraction (MVIC)121.0 force output in Newton-metersStandard Deviation 44.7
Secondary

Maximal Voluntary Isometric Contraction (MVIC)

maximum voluntary force produced during a static muscle contraction

Time frame: Pre-exercise (Day 10)

ArmMeasureValue (MEAN)Dispersion
Active CBD-extractMaximal Voluntary Isometric Contraction (MVIC)138.5 Newton-metersStandard Deviation 23.3
Vehicle-Control (Placebo)Maximal Voluntary Isometric Contraction (MVIC)129.3 Newton-metersStandard Deviation 42.1
Secondary

Maximal Voluntary Isometric Contraction (MVIC)

maximum voluntary force produced during a static muscle contraction measured in Newton-meters.

Time frame: Post-exercise (Day 12)

ArmMeasureValue (MEAN)Dispersion
Active CBD-extractMaximal Voluntary Isometric Contraction (MVIC)122.4 force output in Newton-metersStandard Deviation 41.2
Vehicle-Control (Placebo)Maximal Voluntary Isometric Contraction (MVIC)102.4 force output in Newton-metersStandard Deviation 32.6
Secondary

Pain Anxiety Symptom Scale - 20 (PASS-20)

20 item, 5-point rating scale that assesses 4 theoretically distinct components of pain-related anxiety including cognitive anxiety (items 1 to 5), fear of pain (items 6 to 10), escape/avoidance behavior (items 11 to 15), and physiological anxiety (items 16 to 20). Each subscale is worth 20 points. Subscales are combined to compute total score. The total scale ranges from 0 to 100; higher scores indicate worse outcome.

Time frame: Pre-exercise (Day 10)

ArmMeasureValue (MEAN)Dispersion
Active CBD-extractPain Anxiety Symptom Scale - 20 (PASS-20)39.5 score on a scaleStandard Deviation 15.4
Vehicle-Control (Placebo)Pain Anxiety Symptom Scale - 20 (PASS-20)49.9 score on a scaleStandard Deviation 22.1
Secondary

Pain Anxiety Symptom Scale (PASS-20)

20 item, 5-point rating scale that assesses 4 theoretically distinct components of pain-related anxiety including cognitive anxiety (items 1 to 5), fear of pain (items 6 to 10), escape/avoidance behavior (items 11 to 15), and physiological anxiety (items 16 to 20). Each subscale is worth 20 points. Subscales are combined to compute total score. The total scale ranges from 0 to 100; higher scores indicate worse outcome.

Time frame: Post-exercise (Day 15)

ArmMeasureValue (MEAN)Dispersion
Active CBD-extractPain Anxiety Symptom Scale (PASS-20)39.1 score on a scaleStandard Deviation 16.9
Vehicle-Control (Placebo)Pain Anxiety Symptom Scale (PASS-20)47.9 score on a scaleStandard Deviation 21.4
Secondary

Pain Catastrophizing Scale (PCS)

13-item, 5-point rating scale used to assess different thoughts that may be associated with experiencing pain. The PCS total score is computed by summing responses to all 13 items. PCS total scores range from 0 - 52. The PCS subscales are computed by summing the responses to the following items: Rumination: Sum of items 8, 9, 10, 11; Magnification: Sum of items 6, 7, 13; and Helplessness: Sum of items 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 12; higher scores indicate worse outcome.

Time frame: Baseline (Day 1)

ArmMeasureValue (MEAN)Dispersion
Active CBD-extractPain Catastrophizing Scale (PCS)21.1 score on a scaleStandard Deviation 6.5
Vehicle-Control (Placebo)Pain Catastrophizing Scale (PCS)26.4 score on a scaleStandard Deviation 11.7
Secondary

Pain Catastrophizing Scale (PCS)

13-item, 5-point rating scale used to assess different thoughts that may be associated with experiencing pain. The PCS total score is computed by summing responses to all 13 items. PCS total scores range from 0 - 52. The PCS subscales are computed by summing the responses to the following items: Rumination: Sum of items 8, 9, 10, 11; Magnification: Sum of items 6, 7, 13; and Helplessness: Sum of items 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 12; higher scores indicate worse outcome.

Time frame: Pre-exercise (Day 10)

ArmMeasureValue (MEAN)Dispersion
Active CBD-extractPain Catastrophizing Scale (PCS)21.3 score on a scaleStandard Deviation 7.5
Vehicle-Control (Placebo)Pain Catastrophizing Scale (PCS)25.4 score on a scaleStandard Deviation 11.2
Secondary

Pain Catastrophizing Scale (PCS)

13-item, 5-point rating scale used to assess different thoughts that may be associated with experiencing pain. The PCS total score is computed by summing responses to all 13 items. PCS total scores range from 0 - 52. The PCS subscales are computed by summing the responses to the following items: Rumination: Sum of items 8, 9, 10, 11; Magnification: Sum of items 6, 7, 13; and Helplessness: Sum of items 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 12; higher scores indicate worse outcome.

Time frame: Post-exercise (Day 15)

ArmMeasureValue (MEAN)Dispersion
Active CBD-extractPain Catastrophizing Scale (PCS)21.4 score on a scaleStandard Deviation 10.1
Vehicle-Control (Placebo)Pain Catastrophizing Scale (PCS)23.9 score on a scaleStandard Deviation 10.3

Source: ClinicalTrials.gov · Data processed: Apr 2, 2026