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CBD chemical diagram
In a new study, University of Chicago researchers are defending the hypothesis that cannabidiol (CBD), one of the main components of the cannabis plant, has potential to inhibit infections by the COVID-19 virus in human cells. This comes just days after similar results emanated from an Oregon State University study.
In both studies, researchers found that some cannabinoids were able to deny the virus entry to isolated human cells, as well as in live mice. “CBD and its metabolite, 7-OH-CBD, potently block SARS-CoV-2 replication in lung epithelial cells,” the study reads. “This highlights CBD as a potential preventative agent for early-stage SARS-CoV-2 infection and merits future clinical trials.”
The results were completely unexpected, and they were not what researchers were aiming to prove in the first place. “CBD has anti-inflammatory effects, so we thought that maybe it would stop the second phase of COVID infection involving the immune system, the so-called ‘cytokine storm.’ Surprisingly, it directly inhibited viral replication in lung cells," said researcher Marsha Rosner, one of the lead authors of the study. “We just wanted to know if CBD would affect the immune system. No one in their right mind would have ever thought that it blocked viral replication, but that’s what it did.”
“Like all viruses, the COVID virus affects the host cell by hijacking its gene expression machinery to produce more copies of itself and its viral proteins. This effect can be observed by tracking virus-induced changes in cellular RNAs. High concentrations of CBD almost completely eradicated the expression of viral RNAs,” the University of Chicago relayed in a press release.
Anecdotal Evidence
Anecdotally, evidence could be gathered that patients who took a medically prescribed CBD solution tested positive for COVID-19 at a much lower rate than comparable patients who were not taking CBD. This information builds a strong case in favor of starting human clinical trials to explore the potential of cannabinoids as a therapeutic tool against the pandemic.
However, we are not talking here about off-the-shelves CBD edibles or tinctures. “Going to your corner bakery and buying some CBD muffins or gummy bears probably won’t do anything,” Rosner said. The CBD solution studied by researchers is of uncommonly high purity, and it does not contain tetrahydrocannabinol (THC), the component that gets you “high.” Anecdotal evidence seems to point out that mixing THC with CBD seems to reduce the alleged effects of CBD as a viral protection. Researchers explicitly caution against using marijuana to self-medicate against COVID, including smoking joints, eating edibles or using tinctures and topicals.
When Oregon State University published research finding that CBD, as well as another sister cannabinoid, CBG (cannabigerol), could inhibit COVID-19 infections, the study took the internet by storm, resulting in countless memes and social media posts wrongly conflating a marijuana consumption habit with a form of immunity against the pandemic. It is not. Regular marijuana does not in any way—that we know of—affect the COVID-19 infection process. We have no reason to think that the average marijuana product meant for recreational consumption, and thus heavily skewed in favor of THC rather than CBD, has any positive effect in case of a COVID-19 infection. Even consuming high-purity CBD solutions is not well understood and is in no way an alternative to the vaccine. At most, CBD could simply be a complement to vaccination, and we cannot know that until more research comes to confirm this hypothesis.
