Can CBD really stop an infection with COVID-19? Researchers want to know

Scientists have found evidence that a component in marijuana may be effective at preventing coronavirus infection.

 

Cannabidiol (CBD), a component of cannabis, may help prevent COVID-19 infection.

 

The probable effect still needs to be tested in humans, so don't rush out and buy a bunch of CBD oils from your local dispensary. (And by all means, avoid smoking weed if you want to avoid getting the coronavirus.) However, these results only relate to the high-quality, FDA-approved medicinal CBD used to treat seizure disorders; the low-quality, consumer-grade CBD is not affected.

 

Marsha Rosner, the study's principal author, cancer researcher, and immune response expert at the University of Chicago emphasized that CBD is not a replacement for tried-and-true methods of combating COVID-19. The researchers believe the chemical has potential as a weapon against SARS-CoV-2 and possibly other viruses. The team has demonstrated that the molecule can protect mice from COVID-19, and they have found evidence that suggests it may also protect humans.

 

"We don't know if CBD can prevent COVID yet, but we think our data gives a solid rationale for undertaking a clinical trial," Rosner told Live Science. "That is our overarching goal; we need a clinical trial."

 

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Cannabidiol (CBD) is extracted from the cannabis plant. CBD does not produce intoxication like the marijuana compound tetrahydrocannabinol (THC). However, according to Robin Duncan, a biochemist and nutritional scientist at the University of Waterloo in Ontario who was not involved in the new research, it does bind to more than a thousand distinct receptors in the human body. CBD oils, drinks, and other products are widely available due to the widespread belief that they have beneficial health effects; however, little is known about the effects of CBD on health due to a lack of rigorous testing.

 

It was by accident that Rosner and her coworkers researched CBD and COVID-19. For their cancer research, they were doing chemical screening in the hopes of activating a type of immunological response known as the host stress response in cells. The innate immune system includes the host stress response. This reaction is aimed at no specific pathogen; instead, it is triggered whenever a cell detects a threat, such as an invading virus. It puts the cell into a defensive posture, releasing chemicals to help keep the virus from replicating using the cell's machinery.

 

One cannot ward off COVID-19 by smoking or vaping marijuana.

 

Sherry Rosner

Rosner added that she and her colleagues opted to explore CBD in relation to the novel coronavirus because it showed remarkable promise in inducing the host stress response, which is crucial for cells to fight against viruses.

 

After pre-treating the cells with CBD, they first exposed human lung cells to the SARS-CoV-2 virus, which is responsible for COVID-19. They discovered that cells dosed with CBD were far more resistant to infection than those that had not been treated. Indeed, the virus was just as infectious in kidney cells isolated from monkeys. It was also valid for the gamma, beta, and alpha coronaviruses. (Rosner noted that delta and omicron weren't available during the research period.)

 

At least 15 hours after infection, CBD was found to inhibit SARS-CoV2 multiplication in cultured cells for at least 15 hours, suggesting its potential efficacy even in the early post-infection window posited by Rosner.

 

Putting it through its paces

 

It's one thing to study cells in a petri dish, quite another to study a living organism. Next, the scientists sprayed live SARS-CoV-2 into the mice's nasal passages, a sure way to infect them, and sprayed pure CBD into the animals' intestines once a day for seven days. After that initial four-day period, they waited four additional days before stopping the CBD injections.

 

The mice were examined for viral load in their airways and noses five days following the therapy. Compared to untreated mice, those given a low dose of CBD showed a 3.8-fold reduction in viral load in the nasal passages and a 4.8-fold reduction in the lungs. High-dose CBD treatment reduced the viral load in the nose and lungs of mice by 4.8 and 40-fold, respectively, compared to untreated mice. Similarly, the infected mice appeared to have no trouble clearing the infection from their systems; while mice infected in the lab typically feel unwell and lose weight, the CBD-treated mice showed no such symptoms.

 

According to Rosner, some people with seizure disorders take daily doses of pure CBD orally as it is an FDA-approved medication. About 530 patients with seizure disorders were included in the study, and she and her team searched through their medical records to compare the incidence of COVID in those who were taking CBD as a treatment to that of people with comparable demographics and medical histories who were not using CBD. They discovered that the rate of COVID positivity was lower among those actively taking CBD (4.9%) than those who were not (9%). However, the study's reliance on medical records alone meant that researchers couldn't rule out the possibility of unmeasured variations between the two groups that would independently alter their risk of COVID exposure.

 

A method for strengthening the immune system?

 

Given these encouraging results, the researchers moved on to studying other cannabinoids in cannabis, including cannabidiolic acid (CBDA), cannabidivarin (CBDV), and tetrahydrocannabinol (THC). The researchers discovered that CBD alone had antiviral effects. CBD's antiviral activity was diminished when combined with THC, as in recreational marijuana products. In other words, the current study by Rosner and her colleagues, published on January 20 in the journal Science Advances, found that neither smoking nor vaping marijuana protected against COVID-19. Damage to the lungs from smoking or vaping may increase a person's likelihood of contracting the disease.

 

The group also looked into the possible mechanisms of action of CBD. Infected cells were discovered to stimulate several defensive responses in infected cells. The "unfolded protein response" lets stressed cells continue functioning by targeting the machinery the virus has commandeered to produce more of itself. The Unfolded protein response helps eliminate misfolded or unfolded proteins clogging up the cell's machinery, hence the name. Additionally, CBD aided in synthesizing interferons, immune system components that act as the first line of defense against viral replication within the cell.

 

The SARS-CoV-2 virus is equipped with its defenses that allow it to limit an infected cell's interferon synthesis; preliminary research suggests that the omicron variation is milder than prior variants because it does not restrict its host's interferon production to the same extent. If CBD can increase interferon despite the virus's best efforts to suppress it, it may be able to lessen the severity of the sickness.

 

Other labs, not just Duncan's, have found analogous outcomes. Duncan and her colleagues have explored the effects of CBD on individual genes in SARS-CoV-2 infected cells, and their findings corroborate those of Rosner's. Duncan and colleagues observed that kidney cells infected with SARS-CoV-2 did a poor job of establishing a frontline antiviral response; their study has not yet been peer-reviewed but is available on the preprint database bioRxiv. On the other hand, CBD-treated, infected cells demonstrated a dramatic upregulation of antiviral activity genes.

 

When looking at individual genes, Duncan's team and the other teams noticed similarities, but when considering the entire virus, they saw differences.

 

According to a study published recently in the Journal of Natural Products by researchers at Oregon State University, cannabigerolic acid (CBGA) and cannabidiolic acid (CBDA) was shown to bind to the coronavirus spike protein and block virus entry into cells. That's not the mechanism of action demonstrated by Rosner or Duncan's studies; those aren't the cannabis chemicals they used. That research, too, ignored real-world organisms in favor of lab-grown tissue. Rosner said it was unclear whether or not the CBGA or CBDA used in the study could be digested efficiently in a living body. New insights have been gained through studying CBD's metabolism as a seizure medication.

 

Researchers need to demonstrate a medicine's potential efficacy and safety in preclinical studies before they can apply it to conduct human clinical trials. According to Duncan, preclinical evidence was provided by Rosner and her colleagues, and CBD's safety and lack of toxicity are already well-established. In the United States, anyone over one can use the FDA-approved chemical to treat their seizures.

 

According to Rosner, the sample size for a study to determine whether CBD could prevent infection would need to be comparable to that used to demonstrate the efficacy of vaccination. Therefore, it is more likely that researchers will initially undertake a clinical trial examining if CBD can assist in lessening symptoms or severity if taken immediately after COVID infection. They plan to proceed with the trials as soon as possible.

 

"We need to find a sponsor and we need to find funding, so we've been talking to both companies and our government about how to do that in the most effective way," Rosner said.

Reference : https://www.livescience.com/cbd-cannabidiol-may-block-covid-infection

Image source : https://pixabay.com/id/vectors/coronavirus-simbol-corona-virus-5058258/

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