Cannabidiol Inhibits SARS-CoV-2 Replication and Promotes the Host Innate Immune Response
(Preprint)
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC7987002/
https://www.science.org/doi/10.1126/sciadv.abi6110
Cannabidiol (CBD)
Potential regulator of the host stress and antiviral inflammatory responses
(cannabinoid class of natural products)
Hemp, cannabis plants,
Less than 0.3% psychotropic tetrahydrocannabinol (THC)
Oral solution of CBD is a U.S. FDA approved drug
High-purity CBD inhibits SARS-CoV-2 replication in human lung epithelial cells
Pretreated human lung cells (with ACE2 receptor)
for 2 hours with CBD before infection with SARS-CoV-2.
CBD potently inhibited viral replication under nontoxic conditions
(no toxicity was observed at the effective doses)
Worked in other human lung cell lines, worked in monkey kidney cells
Tested on Wuhan strain and 3 VOCs
Their ability to infect cells was comparably inhibited by CBD
CBD or other cannabinoids?
Checked 97 to 100% pure using quantitative nuclear magnetic resonance (qNMR).
No toxicity was observed for any of the CBD preparations at the doses used to inhibit viral infection
The CBD metabolite 7-OH-CBD, 7-hydroxy-cannabidiol
exhibits antiviral activity
Others did not work
Combining CBD with THC (1:1) significantly suppressed CBD efficacy,
consistent with competitive inhibition by THC.
CBD and 7-OH-CBD metabolite are the active and equipotent ingredients for the treatment of epilepsy
CBD acts at an early step after viral entry into cells
CBD targets host cell processes.
CBD inhibits viral RNA expression and reverses viral-induced changes in host gene expression
CBD effectively eradicated viral RNA expression in the host cells
Prevents changes in the cell produced by the virus to force the cell to produce new viral particles
CBD induces strong activation of genes associated with the host stress response.
Together, these results suggest that CBD acts to prevent viral protein translation and associated cellular changes.
Induction of viral genes for spike, envelope, and nucleocapsid proteins is reduced ~99% with CBD
CBD induction of increased transcription of 3 defensive endoplasmic reticulum genes
CBD induces interferon expression as part of its antiviral activity
CBD suppress viral infection,
and promote degradation of viral RNA
(SARS-CoV-2 infection suppresses the interferon signaling pathway)
CBD sufficiently lowers the effective viral titer to enable normal host activation of the interferon pathway.
CBD effectively reversed viral induction of cytokines that can lead to deadly cytokine storm
CBD treatment significantly inhibits SARS-CoV-2 replication in mice
After viral the challenge,
administration of CBD continued twice daily for an additional 4 days
CBD treatment significantly inhibited viral replication in lungs and nasal turbinates at day 5 after infection
Lower dose of CBD reduced viral load by 4.8-fold in lungs
Higher dose of CBD reduced viral load by 40 -fold in lungs
During this period, the mice showed no signs of clinical disease
These results establish the preclinical efficacy of CBD as an antiviral drug for SARS-CoV-2 during early stages of infection.
CBD is negatively associated with indications of SARS-CoV-2 infection in patient medical records
Given that high-purity CBD preparations are taken by a large number of individuals,
we examined whether CBD prescriptions are associated with indications of SARS-CoV-2 infection
An oral solution of CBD (100 mg/ml) (CBD100) is often used for the treatment of seizures
Analysis of 1,212 patients
Matched to control group counterparts
6.2% (75 patients) with CDB
8.9% for non-CBD patients
(P = 0.014)
Odds ratio (OR) of 0.65, (P = 0.009)
Odds ratio (OR) of 0.48, (P = 0.006)
Potential of Cannabidiol for the Treatment of Viral Hepatitis
CBD inhibited HCV replication by 86.4%
(Not Hep B)
Other RNA viral infections
Common cold
Influenza
SARS / MERS
Dengue
Hep C and E
Ebola
Rabies
Polio
Mumps
Measles
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