Evaluation of pharmacokinetics and acute anti-inflammatory potential of two oral cannabidiol preparations in healthy adults.

Cannabidiol (CBD) is a dietary supplement with numerous purported health benefits and an expanding commercial market. Commercially available CBD preparations range from tinctures, oils, and powders, to foods and beverages. Despite widespread use, information regarding bioavailability of these formulations is limited. The purpose of this study was to test the bioavailability of two oral formulations of CBD in humans and explore their potential acute anti-inflammatory activity. We conducted a pilot randomized, parallel arm, double-blind study in 10 healthy adults to determine differences in pharmacokinetics of commercially available water and lipid-soluble CBD powders. Participants consumed a single 30 mg dose, which is within the range of typical commercial supplement doses, and blood samples were collected over 6 hr and analyzed for CBD concentrations. Peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMCs) were collected at baseline and T = 90 min, cultured and stimulated with bacterial lipopolysaccharide (LPS) to induce an inflammatory response. Cell supernatants were assayed for IL-10 and TNF, markers of inflammation, using enzyme-linked immunosorbent assays. The water-soluble powder had Cmax = 2.82 ng/ml, Tmax = 90 min, and was approximately ×4.5 more bioavailable than the lipid-soluble form. TNF was decreased in LPS-stimulated PBMCs collected 90 min after CBD exposure relative to cells collected at baseline. This study provides pilot data for designing and powering future studies to establish the anti-inflammatory potential and bioavailability of a larger variety of commercial CBD products consumed by humans.

How Virtual Animal Anatomy facilitated a successful transition to online instruction and supported student learning during the coronavirus pandemic.

Anatomy faculty with cadaver-based laboratory courses were presented with a significant challenge in March 2020 to create equivalent learning experiences without cadaveric access. The undergraduate domestic animal anatomy course at the Colorado State University was halfway into a 16-week semester when COVID-19 lockdown orders and the transition to remote instruction began. The new course curriculum was critically evaluated using student surveys and course outcome data. Most students (92.5%) agreed that the transition to online learning was a success; however, students who valued face-to-face lectures prior to March were less likely to perceive the transition as a success. Qualitative and quantitative analyses of survey results suggest that the resources perceived as most helpful for the transition to online learning were not the same as those that helped facilitate animal anatomy learning. Most students (92.5%) agreed that the Virtual Animal Anatomy (VAA) helped them learn anatomy, and 82.2% indicated that the VAA was a valuable resource following the transition to online learning. Additional resources associated with transition success included course instructors, weekly quizzes, written descriptions of anatomical structures and open laboratory sessions. In contrast, those resources associated with facilitating learning included guided quizzes and asynchronous lecture recordings. These findings suggest that the VAA can support online anatomy learning when used in conjunction with other best practices for online teaching.