Introduction
spasticity, upper extremity spasticity
MULTIPLE SCLEROSIS (MS), CHRONIC INFLAMMATORY DISEASE
One of the most distinctive features of multiple sclerosis (MS), a chronic inflammatory disease of the central nervous system (CNS) which affects 2.8 million individuals worldwide [While lower limb motor impairments are pivotal in determining the degree of disability of people with MS (PwMS) (as indicated by their central role in the Expanded Disability Status Scale, EDSS) and great attention is devoted to their management, it is noteworthy that a relevant percentage of PwMS (estimated between 50 and 80% [Among the factors previously listed, it is noticeable that the management of upper extremity spasticity, despite the non-negligible number of PwMS who suffer from it [Since 2010, nabiximols (Sativex®), an oromucosal spray whose active principle is a combination of 9-delta tetrahydrocannabinol (THC) and cannabidiol (CBD), was approved in Europe as an add-on treatment option for spasticity in PwMS who were unresponsive to other treatments. Its specific formulation, particularly as regards to the fraction of CBD of the total active moiety, was designed to avoid the typical side effects associated with THC that characterize other cannabis-derived drugs [On the basis of the aforementioned considerations, here we pursued a pilot study aimed to quantitatively and objectively assess the effects of nabiximols on upper limb functioning of PwMS by analyzing several kinematic features of the “hand-to-mouth” (HTM) functional task. Such movement is considered well representative of important ADLs like eating and drinking [