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Can CBD Help With Covid-19?
The global Covid-19 pandemic takes lives every day, so people are constantly looking for ways to treat it and boost their own immune system.
While there are a lot of different medications that link to fighting Covid, the only way to be sure that they will work is by conducting clinical trials.
CBD is one of the options currently undergoing clinical trials to see if it will affect Covid-19. People mainly use CBD to treat chronic pain, relieve the symptoms of anxiety disorders, and reduce appetite.
Clinical trials thus far have found that CBD can inhibit the Sars Cov 2 infection in numerous human and mice cells. However, to what extent can CBD help with Covid-19?
Please continue reading to learn the full details of the clinical trials on CBD on Covid-19 and how exactly CBD can help with the virus.
How Can CBD Help With Covid-19?
The clinical trials on CBD for Covid-19 have found many different potential benefits. Some of the effects that CBD can have on Covid-19 include:
- There was a clinical trial on how high purity CBD can affect Sars Cov 2 viral replication in human lungs. The results were that CBD could inhibit Sars Cov 2 viral replication in the human lungs.
- There were multiple clinical trials On CBD congeners to see if they possess anti-viral properties. The only one that was effective was the metabolite 7-OH-CBD.
- There are multiple clinical trials on CBD as a blocker to a virus entering the system.
- There are clinical trials testing whether CBD can reverse viral changes in gene expression. The clinical trial shows that CBD can reverse the viral induction of some genes.
- Clinical trials are testing whether CBD can induce IRE1α activity. If it can, it will be beneficial as an anti-viral solution.
- A clinical trial on whether CBD can induce interferon expression was a vital trial to make because inducing interferon expression can be critical for defending against viruses.
- A clinical trial on whether CBD can inhibit Sars Cov 2 viral replication in infected mice.
Is There Any Clinical Trial Evidence To Support CBD Relieving Covid-19?
Hundreds of clinical trials provide evidence of how effective CBD is against it and what it can do to combat it.
Here are the biggest findings so far on the effects CBD has on Covid-19.
High Purity CBD And Sars Cov 2 Viral Replication On Human Lungs
High purity CBD is essentially A CBD product with very little or no THC; CBD isolate is the purest form because it contains no THC.
To determine whether CBD with high purity is effective against Covid-19, a clinical trial testing the effects of high purity CBD on Sars Cov 2 viral replication on the human lung cells took place. It essentially states that pure CBD inhibits viral replication in the lung cells. The tests also had the same results on monkey kidney cells.
To check for any potential toxicity, they tested three strains of Sars Cov 2, with all three showing the same inhibition results.
Clinical Trials On Other Cannabinoids And CBD Metabolite 7-OH-CBD
Clinical trials find that CBD can inhibit Sars Cov 2 viral infection and replication. However, trials are now taking place to determine if other congeneric cannabinoids in the cannabis sativa plant have the same effect.
The only cannabinoid proven to be effective is CBD, with THC and other cannabinoids (CBDA, CBDV, CBC, etc.) not inhibiting viral infection.
There are also trials on the CBD metabolite 7-OH-CBD (38% of the total CBD level in the plasma in the human body). The clinical trial shows that 7-OH-CBD inhibits Sars Cov 2 strains and provides no toxicity.
CBD As A Viral Entry Blocker
Along with inhibiting viral replication, there is also a clinical trial to see if CBD blocks viral replication. Specifically, a clinical trial to test whether CBD can suppress the Sars Cov 2 receptor.
The clinical trial firstly shows that CBD doesn’t help block viral infection as much as it helps inhibit infection. It only very weakly inhibits the viral entry of Covid cells.
However, it also shows that CBD can inhibit viral spike protein expression (these proteins enable viral replication). The trial found out that CBD isn’t great at preventing viral protein processing, but this helps determine that CBD primarily targets the processes of the host cells.
CBD Can Reverse Viral Changes In Gene Expression
There are clinical trials on whether CBD is effective at inhibiting viral gene expression. Twenty-four hour tests on specific infected cells (A549 cells, for example) show that CBD can suppress the gene expression changes that Sars Cov 2 induces.
For example, CBD destroys host cells’ viral RNA expression (host cell RNA membrane coding, etc.). As a result, host cell RNA shows a reversal of the viral infection effects.
Also, CBD can inhibit some of the genes associated with neutrophils and ribosomes and can activate genes that associate with the stress response of the host. These tests show that CBD can prevent viral protein translation.
CBD Can Induce IRE1α Activity
There is also early research to suggest that CBD can induce certain IRE1a activities, such as IRE1a splicing. CBD inducing IRE1 activities is significant because it can help with infected cells’ anti-viral processes.
They also compare the effects of CBD on IRE1 activities and the effect of CBDV on IRE1 activities. Because a lot of the other cannabinoids can’t solely inhibit viral infection, it will come as no surprise that CBD induces more activities like XBP1 splicing.
There were also clinical trials on the effects of an IRE1 knockout on Sars Cov 2. It doesn’t have a massive impact on Sars Cov 2, but it can reduce the anti-viral CBD effects by altering the dose-response.
CBD Can Induce Interferon Expression
There are also clinical trials that test whether CBD induces interferon expression. Interferons are proteins that are part of your natural defenses. They tell your immune system that germs or cancer cells are in your body. And they trigger killer immune cells to fight those invaders. Sars Cov 2 heavily suppresses interferon expression. Therefore, if CBD can induce the interferon signalling pathway, it could significantly help suppress infected cells.
The results show that CBD can effectively lower viral activity enough to activate interferon activity in the body (host cell interferon responses).
As a bonus result, CBD suppresses cytokine activation (and therefore, CBD suppresses cytokine production).
Tests on CBDV show that it doesn’t induce the interferon signaling pathway or suppress cytokine production.
Sars Cov 2 Viral Replication On Infected Mice
As well as testing the Covid CBD effects on the human lung cells, there are also clinical trials on infected mice. Scientists inject Sars Cov 2 infected mice (females) with CBD to test the effects.
The clinical trial shows that CBD inhibits viral replication in the lung epithelial cells in infected mice, as well as the nasal turbinates. Also, the mice didn’t show any symptoms or signs of disease, and their proportions (bodyweight) remained the same.
The clinical trial effects took around four to five days to come into place entirely, so it is unlikely to be an overnight remedy.
Conclusion: Can CBD Help With Covid-19?
The clinical trials on CBD for Covid-19 have found many different potential benefits. Some of the effects that CBD can have on Covid-19 include inhibiting viral replication on specific cells (lung epithelial cells, etc.), inhibiting viral spike protein expression, suppressing virus-based gene expression, inducing IRE1 activity in the human body, inducing the interferon response canonical pathway, and suppressing cytokine activation.
However, more research on CBD for Covid-19 and Sars Cov 2 needs to happen before we know the full effects and risks. You can read more about the benefits of CBD Oil here.
At the CBD Oil NZ team we're looking to provide you with up to date information on CBD in New Zealand regarding new research and regulation.
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