Efficacy of cannabis-based medicine in the treatment of Tourette syndrome: a systematic review and meta-analysis

Background

Tourette syndrome (TS) is a neurodevelopmental disorder characterized by motor and phonic tics. It is a condition that affects between 0.3% and 0.7% of children, and its pathophysiology remains largely elusive. TS is associated with structural and functional alterations in corticostriatal circuits and neurochemical imbalances. Even though TS is currently incurable, there are established treatment options available, including behavioral therapy and neuroleptics. The use of cannabis-based medicine for tic management is an emerging therapeutic strategy, although its efficacy is still under investigation. It is hypothesized to interact with the endogenous cannabinoid system, but further research is required to ascertain its safety and effectiveness in TS.

Aim

In our systematic review and meta-analysis, we aim to assess the effectiveness of cannabis-based medicine in the treatment of TS.

Methods

We searched PubMed, Cochrane, Scopus, and Web of Sciences until February 2024. We included clinical trials and cohort studies investigating the efficacy of cannabis-based medicine in the treatment of TS. Data extraction focused on baseline characteristics of the included studies and efficacy outcomes, including scores on the Yale Global Tic Severity Scale (YGTSS), Premonitory Urge for Tics Scale (PUTS), and Yale-Brown Obsessive Compulsive Scale (Y-BOCS). We conducted the meta-analysis using Review Manager version 5.4. software. We compared the measurements before and after drug intake using mean difference (MD) and 95% confidence interval (CI).

Results

In total, 357 articles were identified for screening, with nine studies included in the systematic review and 3 in the meta-analysis. These studies involved 401 adult patients with TS treated with cannabis. YGTSS revealed a significant reduction in total scores (MD = -23.71, 95% CI [-43.86 to -3.55], P = 0.02), PUTS revealed a significant decrease in scores (MD = -5.36, 95% CI [-8.46 to -2.27], P = 0.0007), and Y-BOCS revealed no significant difference in score reduction (MD = -6.22, 95% CI [-12.68 to 0.23], P = 0.06).

Conclusion

The current study indicates promising and potentially effective outcomes with the use of cannabis-based medicine in mitigating the severity of tics and premonitory urges. However, there is a need for larger, placebo-controlled studies with more representative samples to validate these findings.