Epidiolex, the first plant-derived cannabidiol (CBD) medication to be approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA), can reduce premature mortality and alleviate several behavioral deficits in mouse models of Dravet syndrome, according to data from two studies.

The results, “Cannabidiol improves survival and behavioural co-morbidities of Dravet syndrome in mice,” were published in the British Journal of Pharmacology.

Dravet syndrome is a severe type of drug-resistant epilepsy that causes  seizures, cognitive deficits, and increases mortality. The disorder is caused by genetic mutations in the SCN1A gene, which provides instructions for a subunit of a sodium channel that is essential for the generation and transmission of electrical signals in the brain.