CBD, CBG and CBN Block a Key Pain Channel in the Lab: What the Nav1.8 Study Means

Image: Marc Landers (@marclanders) on X

Pain is one of the most common reasons people ask about medical cannabis. A study from Yale researchers, shared this week by medical-cannabis educator Marc Landers on X, looks at one specific way some cannabinoids might affect pain signaling.

The study

“Nav1.8, an analgesic target for nonpsychotomimetic phytocannabinoids” by Mohammad-Reza Ghovanloo, Sidharth Tyagi, Peng Zhao and Stephen G. Waxman was published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS) in January 2025. The authors are with the Yale School of Medicine, Yale’s Center for Neuroscience and Regeneration Research, and the VA Connecticut Healthcare System.

What is Nav1.8?

Nerves send signals using tiny channels that let sodium in and out. Three of these sodium channels (Nav1.7, Nav1.8 and Nav1.9) sit in the peripheral nerves that sense pain. Nav1.8 recovers quickly after firing, so it helps those nerves fire again and again. That makes it an attractive target for new pain treatments. In clinical studies after surgery (abdominoplasty and bunionectomy), a drug that selectively blocks Nav1.8 reduced acute pain, although relief was only partial. Those human results are for that drug, not for cannabinoids.

What the researchers found

• Three non-intoxicating cannabinoids (CBD, CBG and CBN) each inhibited Nav1.8 in pain-sensing nerve cells (dorsal root ganglion neurons) from mice and rats.

• CBG stood out. At the concentration tested, it reduced how readily rat pain-sensing neurons fired.

• The compounds did not change how much Nav1.8 the cells produced. The effect was on how the channel works.

What the study does not show

This was laboratory research on nerve cells, not a study of living animals or people. It did not test doses, products or pain relief in patients. The authors themselves say the findings warrant “further in vivo studies.” Lab concentrations also don’t translate directly into a product, a dose or a route of use.

So the study adds a mechanism to the conversation. It does not prove that CBD, CBG or CBN products relieve pain in people.

Why it matters for patients

Research like this helps explain why scientists keep studying cannabinoids for pain, and why CBG in particular is getting more attention. It is also a reminder that “CBD,” “CBG” and “CBN” are different compounds with different properties, and that early lab findings need careful follow-up.

At Green Earth Medicine, Christian Lé, MD has applied cannabis knowledge for 15 years across thousands of Oregon patient cases. When new research appears, we read it carefully, separate early signals from established practice, and talk with each adult patient about what may or may not apply to their symptoms, medications and goals.

If you’re an Oregon adult living with pain and curious about physician-guided medical cannabis care, you can learn more at greenearthmedicine.com.

Source: Ghovanloo M-R, Tyagi S, Zhao P, Waxman SG. Nav1.8, an analgesic target for nonpsychotomimetic phytocannabinoids. PNAS. 2025;122(4):e2416886122. PubMed · Free full text

Shared on X by Marc Landers.

Image: Marc Landers (@marclanders) on X

This article is for education only and is not medical advice, a diagnosis or a guarantee of benefit. Talk with a qualified clinician about your own care. Green Earth Medicine serves adults in legal medical contexts.