Christopher Lowry, PhD
Associate Professor, Integrative Physiology, University of Colorado Boulder
In groundbreaking research at the University of Colorado Boulder, Dr. Christopher Lowry, Associate Professor of Integrated Physiology, is investigating the biological connection between autism spectrum disorder and epilepsy using cannabidiol (CBD) as a potential preventative intervention.
“We became interested in this project because it’s become clear that children with autism spectrum disorder have a high comorbidity with features of epilepsy. And conversely, children with epilepsy have a high comorbidity with symptoms of autism,” explains Dr. Lowry. Despite this observed connection, the biological mechanisms underlying this relationship remain largely unknown.
Dr. Lowry’s team is conducting preclinical studies using a model that exhibits both autism-like and epileptic characteristics. Their previous research demonstrated that preventing inappropriate inflammation could inhibit the development of autism-like behaviors in this model. The exciting discovery came when they realized that the intervention they had used shared biological mechanisms with compounds found in commercially available CBD products.
Building on these findings, the team is now using a broad-spectrum commercial CBD product to determine if it can replicate their initial results in preventing inflammation. Their research involves a complex design with three different approaches: administering CBD to the mother during pregnancy, giving CBD to the offspring, or providing it to both mother and offspring.
The research uses terbutaline, a drug that acts on beta-2 adrenergic receptors and is known to be a risk factor for autism development in humans when pregnant mothers are exposed. This experimental design allows the team to study how CBD might counteract these effects.
Currently midway through the first study—administering CBD to mothers during pregnancy—Dr. Lowry reports promising initial results, particularly regarding social behavior improvements, which is a key indicator they use to assess autism-like characteristics.
Dr. Lowry acknowledges the challenges in studying inflammation, which can arise from various sources including viral infections, bacterial infections, or even stress exposure. This complexity makes it difficult to identify a single causal agent in human contexts.
This important research is made possible through funding from the Institute of Cannabis Research (ICR), which Dr. Lowry notes has been essential: “Essentially we couldn’t have done this study without the ICR funding.” The team looks forward to completing the entire research program over the next two years, with hopes of eventually advancing to human clinical trials.