CHICAGO (WBBM NEWSRADIO) -- Cannabis could help prevent COVID-19, but don’t head to the dispensary just yet.
Researchers at the University of Chicago found high-purity CBD may help block COVID-19. from replicating.
An interdisciplinary team of researchers from the University of Chicago found evidence that cannabidiol, or CBD - a product of the cannabis plant - can inhibit infection by the COVID-19 virus in human lung cells and in mice.
But the COVID-blocking effects of CBD only come from a specially formulated dose to treat epilepsy, meaning it doesn’t apply to commercial cannabidiol.
The study, published on Jan. 20 in Science Advances, found CBD showed a significant negative association with positive COVID tests in a national sample of medical records of patients taking the FDA-approved, high-purity dose of CBD for treating epilepsy.
“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,’” said Marsha Rosner, Charles B. Huggins Professor in the Ben May Department of Cancer Research and a senior author of the study. “Surprisingly, it directly inhibited viral replication in lung cells.”
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Researchers now said clinical trials should be done to determine whether CBD could eventually be used as a preventative or early treatment for COVID-19.
“A clinical trial is necessary to determine whether CBD is really effective at preventing or suppressing SARS-CoV-2 infection, but we think this may have potential as a prophylactic treatment,” Rosner said. “Maybe you’re in a hot spot or you think you might have been exposed or you’ve just tested positive—that’s where we think CBD might have an effect.”
Again, researchers caution that the COVID-blocking effects of CBD come only from a high-purity, specially formulated dose taken in specific situations. The study’s findings do not suggest that consuming commercially available products with CBD additives that vary in potency and quality can prevent COVID-19.
“Going to your corner bakery and buying some CBD muffins or gummy bears probably won’t do anything,” Rosner said. “The commercially available CBD powder we looked at, which was off the shelf and something you could order online, was sometimes surprisingly of high purity, but also of inconsistent quality. It is also hard to get into an oral solution that can be absorbed without the special, FDA-approved formulation.”
While the study’s results are exciting, researchers said additional study is needed to determine the precise dosing of CBD that is effective at preventing infection in humans, as well as its safety profile and any potential side effects.
“We are very eager to see some clinical trials on this subject get off the ground,” Rosner said. “Especially as we are seeing that the pandemic is still nowhere near the end—determining whether this generally safe, well-tolerated and non-psychoactive cannabinoid might have antiviral effects against COVID-19 is of critical importance.”
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