Efficacy and Safety of Cannabidiol for Gastroparesis and Functional Dyspepsia

Subjects ingested a Technetium-99m sulfur colloid radiolabeled meal and Indium-111 absorbed on to activated charcoal particles and delivered to the colon by an oral methacrylate-coated capsule. Gastric emptying (GE t 1/2) was measured by scintigraphy and defined as the time required for 50% of the radiolabeled tracer to empty from the stomach.

Subjects ingested a Technetium-99m sulfur colloid radiolabeled meal and Indium-111 absorbed on to activated charcoal particles and delivered to the colon by an oral methacrylate-coated capsule. Gastric emptying lag time (GE t-lag) was measured by scintigraphy and defined as the amount of time the radioactive meal was in the stomach before starting to empty into the small bowel.

Gastric fasting volume was measured prior to a meal of 300 mL standardized radio-labeled Ensure drink using an intravenous injection of Technetium Tc-99m pertechnetate and noninvasive single photon emission-computed tomography (SPECT).

Gastric accommodation was measured 15 minutes after ingestion of 300 mL standardized radio-labeled Ensure drink using an intravenous injection of Technetium Tc-99m pertechnetate and noninvasive single photon emission-computed tomography (SPECT).

Thirty (30) minutes after ingesting the meal of 300 mL radio-labeled Ensure drink, an additional Ensure drink was ingested at a constant rate of 30 mL/min. Participants recorded their sensations every 5 minutes using a numeric scale from 0 to 5, with level 0 being no symptoms, level 3 corresponding to fullness sensation after a typical meal, and level 5 corresponding to the MTV (maximum or unbearable fullness/satiation). Nutrient intake was stopped when subjects reach a score of 5.

Thirty (30) minutes after ingesting the meal of 300 mL radio-labeled Ensure drink, an additional Ensure drink was ingested at a constant rate of 30 mL/min. Participants recorded their sensations every 5 minutes using a numeric scale from 0 to 5, with level 0 being no symptoms, level 3 corresponding to fullness sensation after a typical meal, and level 5 corresponding to the MTV (maximum or unbearable fullness/satiation). Nutrient intake was stopped when subjects reach a score of 5.

The number of functional dyspepsia participants who confirmed adequate relief of dyspepsia symptoms, based on the self-reporting question "In the past 7 days have you had adequate relief of your upper abdominal pain or discomfort?".

Self-reported daily symptom diaries assessed 3 symptoms of functional dyspepsia: (1) upper abdominal pain, (2) nausea, and (3) bloating or distension. Each symptom was scored from 0-4, where 0=none, 1= very mild, 2=mild, 3=moderate, and 4=severe. The responses were averaged together to provide an overall symptom score, which ranged from 0-4, where a higher score reflects worse symptoms.

Mean daily epigastric pain in functional dyspepsia participants as measured by the question "How much did you suffer from pain in your stomach area today?". The score is based on 5 point scale ranging from 0 (not at all) to 5 (extremely) where a higher score reflects more pain.

The Nepean Dyspepsia Index (NDI) is used to assess functional dyspepsia quality of life. NDI scores are summarized as overall quality of life based on 5 subscales: interference, knowledge/control, eating/drinking, sleep disturbance, work/study. There are two questions per subscale for a total of 10 questions. Each question is ranked from 0-4, where 0 is 'not at all' and 4 is 'extremely'. The results from each question are added together to generate a total index score of 0 to 40. A lower score reflects no to little impact functional dyspepsia has on on quality of life while a higher score reflects significant impact functional dyspepsia has on quality of life.

Postprandial symptoms of fullness, nausea, bloating, and pain were measured 30min after the satiation drink test using 100mm horizontal visual analog scales, with the words "none" and "worst ever" anchored at each end. Scores for each symptom were added to calculate the aggregate symptom score, which ranged from 0-400, where a lower score reflected mild symptoms and a higher score reflected more severe symptoms.

Overall severity in gastroparesis was self-measured daily by asking the question "In thinking about your gastroparesis disorder, what was the overall severity of your gastroparesis symptoms today (during the past 24 hours)"? The responses were ranked as 0 (none), 1 (mild), 2 (moderate), 3 (severe) and 4 (very severe). Scores range from 0-4, where 0 reflects little to no severity of symptoms and 4 reflects severe symptoms.

The average daily number of vomiting episodes in gastroparesis was measured by participants self-reporting responses to the question "In the past 24 hours how many episodes of vomiting did you have?"