New study suggests CBD may protect against Covid

A new study by researchers at the University of Waterloo in Ontario shows that cannabidiol (CBD) offers some protection against COVID-19. Unlike the previous study, which showed that CBDa and CBGa protect against Covid, This laboratory study was carried out on human kidney cells and healthy control cells, with and without CBD.

The University of Waterloo reports that the, entitled Effect of cannabidiol on apoptosis and cellular interferon and interferon-stimulated gene responses to the SARS-CoV-2 genes ORF8, ORF10 and M protein, shows that CBD «appears to prime the cells» innate immune system, potentially offering protection against pathogens such as SARS-CoV-2".

The school reports that its researchers have discovered that the CBD increases the response of cells to several key proteins produced by the coronavirus genome. She points out that this effect had not been discovered before the study.

«When cells in the lungs or digestive tract are infected by a virus, they have the ability to detect it and respond, even before the immune system is aware of the presence of a virus,» said Robin Duncan, lead researcher and professor in the Department of Kinesiology and Health Sciences at the University of Waterloo. «They do this by activating innate responses inside cells, which are the first line of defense. In the case of COVID-19, however, this response is not very good, which contributed to high infection rates.»

«With an RNA-type virus, such as SARS-CoV-2, cells should activate an innate system that cuts out the viral genome, which also causes infected cells to undergo a process called apoptosis - a kind of controlled cell death that rapidly eliminates infected cells. This could stop an infection or slow its spread within 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 to activate apoptosis. »

«This could stop an infection, or slow its spread within the body or to other people», explains Duncan.

Duncan said that what was potentially even more exciting was that in cells that had not been exposed to SARS-CoV-2 proteins, CBD in therapeutic amounts appeared to prime the cells' innate antiviral system, increasing their ability to respond to viral infection - and that this occurred without activating apoptosis in healthy cells.

Maria Fernandes, who carried out the cellular studies, said, «This suggests that CBD, at the right dose, could help cells be in a better state of readiness to respond to a virus, without provoking a response if there's no need.»

According to Robin Duncan, this idea is supported by results obtained from heavy therapeutic users of CBD in the USA for the treatment of rare types of epilepsy. In this study, patients taking a high dose of prescription CBD had an approximately 10-fold lower risk of testing positive for COVID-19.

The peer-reviewed study is currently under review in the Journal of Life Sciences.