Study: CBD helps fight antibiotic-resistant bacteria

A study by the University of Southern Denmark suggests that the combination of antibiotics and CBD can help fight antibiotic-resistant bacteria.

In the study, CBD was used as an «adjuvant» to enhance the effect of bacitracin, an antibiotic that acts on the bacterial cell wall, against a staphylococcal infection.

Researchers discovered that when CBD was used as an auxiliary compound, staphylococci no longer divided as they normally would. The expression of key genes in the bacteria was reduced, and the bacterial membrane became unstable. As a result, fewer antibiotics were needed for treatment.

Janne Kudsk Klitgaard, one of the study’s authors, said that combining an antibiotic with an adjunct compound such as CBD could lead to an overall reduction in antibiotic use, which could «contribute to the development of less resistant bacteria .».

Last year, Australian researchers discovered that CBD alone acted as a powerful antibiotic, killing all strains of antibiotic-resistant bacteria in a laboratory test. This study revealed that the bacteria did not develop resistance to CBD even after being exposed to it for 20 days—a period of time during which bacteria can typically develop resistance to antibiotics.

«When we combined CBD with antibiotics, we observed a more potent effect than when treating with antibiotics alone. So, to kill a certain number of bacteria, we needed fewer antibiotics.»

However, the study did not find CBD to be effective against Gram-negative bacteria, whose outer membrane prevents most drugs from entering the cell. For these bacteria, a combination of CBG and polymyxin B, a common antibiotic, was able to destroy these dangerous microorganisms, which is found as a pathogen in a wide variety of infections.