CBD: a positive action against the COVID-19 virus?
Could CBD have an effect against COVID-19?
CBD could have an inhibitory effect on the COVID-19 virus according to an American study
It was while browsing the journal Science Advances (Source 1), in its January 20, 2022 edition, that we learned the news. A group of researchers with complementary areas of expertise reportedly found evidence that cannabidiol (CBD) could inhibit the SARS-CoV-2 virus in mice… but also in human cells!
This team, based at the University of Chicago, formalized findings indicating that there is a "significant" negative association between SARS-CoV-2 infection and cannabidiol (CBD) intake. To put it simply: individuals who consume CBD-based products (editor's note: in this specific case, a drug authorized in the United States for the treatment of epilepsy) would be less likely to show symptoms or become contaminated, more generally.
"CBD has anti-inflammatory effects, so we thought it might stop the second phase of Covid-19 infection involving the immune system, the so-called 'cytokine storm'. Surprisingly, it directly inhibited viral replication in lung cells", said Marsha Rosner, director of the laboratory study, in a statement (Source 2).
An important clarification: during the studies conducted in the context described above, CBD did not affect COVID-19's ability to enter the cell. However, it proved effective in blocking replication at the beginning of the infection cycle and six hours after the virus had already infected the cell.
Even more surprising: during in vitro experiments on human lung cells this time, it was found that high concentrations of CBD almost eradicated the expression of viral RNAs, thereby preventing virus replication. Additional complementary experiments also demonstrated that CBD seems to have the same anti-replication effect on two other types of cells as well as for three variants of SARS-CoV-2 in addition to the original strain.
A Canadian study, in turn, highlights the effect of CBD on COVID-19
A second study, this time carried out by the University of Waterloo in Ontario, Canada, also supports this view: cannabidiol could provide a form of protection against COVID-19. It differs from the American study in its setting, which consists of human kidney cells and healthy control cells, distinctly with and without CBD.
The study Effect of cannabidiol on apoptosis and cellular interferon and interferon-stimulated gene responses to the SARS-CoV-2 genes ORF8, ORF10 and M protein, concludes that CBD "would appear to prime the innate immune system of cells, potentially offering protection against pathogens such as SARS-CoV-2".
The University of Waterloo indicates having discovered a previously unsuspected effect: CBD would increase the response of cells to several key proteins produced by the coronavirus genome.
"With an RNA virus, like SARS-CoV-2, cells are supposed to activate an innate system that chops up the viral genome, which also causes infected cells to undergo a process called apoptosis – a kind of controlled cell death that quickly eliminates infected cells. This could stop an infection or slow its spread in the body or to other people. When we combined CBD with these viral proteins, they had a much better ability to activate this system and activate apoptosis. This could stop an infection, or slow its spread in the body or to other people," said Robin Duncan, lead researcher and professor in the Department of Kinesiology and Health Sciences at the University of Waterloo.
The most encouraging aspect, according to Professor Duncan, is that in cells that had not been exposed to COVID-19 proteins until then, CBD in so-called "therapeutic" quantities seemed to prime the innate antiviral system of cells, de facto increasing their ability to respond to viral infection – and that this occurred without activating apoptosis in healthy cells.
It is specified that the Journal of Life Sciences is currently reviewing this study to validate its veracity and potential.
