Two compounds from a cannabis plant could help what’s commonly known as “fatty liver disease,” Israeli researchers say.

Metabolic dysfunction-associated steatotic liver disease, known as MASLD, is the most common liver problem in the world, affecting about one out of every three adults.

However, “this disease does not have a current drug available whatsoever,” Prof. Yossi Tam of the Hebrew University of Jerusalem’s School of Pharmacy told the Times of Israel by phone.

Tam, 51, who is also director of the university’s Multidisciplinary Center for Cannabinoid Research, led the groundbreaking study that shows that Cannabidiol (CBD) and Cannabigerol (CBG), which are non-psychoactive and do not cause a high, can improve the health of the liver by changing how the organ manages energy and cleans itself.

The peer-reviewed research in mice, appearing Friday in The British Journal of Pharmacology, came across what Tam called the mechanism that the liver used for energy and cleaning that was previously unknown.

Lead author PhD student Radka Kočvarová, Dr. Liad Hinden of Tam’s lab, and researchers at Technion-Israel Institute of Technology also contributed to the study.

“Given that one third or more of adults in Western societies are at risk for this disorder accompanying the obesity epidemic, [the study] portends enormous public health significance,” said Dr. Ethan Russo, founder and CEO of CReDO Science, a research, development and educational company focusing on cannabis. Russo was not involved in the study.

Tam said the novel aspect of the research was its testing of both CBD and CBG. The lab has patented the use of the combination of CBD and CBG for metabolic disorders, and this step could pave the way for clinical trials of the treatment on humans.

According to a 2024 Knesset Health Committee report, nearly 60% of Israel’s adult population is overweight or obese, and one in five........

© The Times of Israel