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Cannabis compound CBD stops coronavirus in test tube, but can it treat COVID? -Breaking

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© Reuters. FILE PHOTO – A cannabis leaf displayed in Canna Pi’s medical marijuana dispensary, Seattle, Washington. November 27, 2012. REUTERS/Anthony Bolante/File Photo

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Nancy Lapid

(Reuters) – Early research suggests that a non-psychoactive, popular compound derived marijuana could help treat COVID-19. Researchers recommend further study in clinical trials.

Numerous laboratory studies of CBD (or cannabidiol) in recent years have produced promising results and attracted media attention.

Many other COVID treatment options, including hydroxychloroquine and drugs that treat other cancers, failed to prove beneficial for COVID-19 subjects once they were tested in clinical trials.

Marsha Rosner, University of Chicago, led the team that discovered CBD in lab experiments to curb SARS-CoV-2 infection in infected cells. However, our findings are not conclusive. She said that her findings support a clinical trial.

Rosner, along with colleagues, found that CBD didn’t prevent coronavirus infecting test tube cells by using small quantities of purified CBD.

It acted quickly after virus infected cells and prevented them from copying themselves, partly via interferon effects. They found similar effects in infected mice, according to a report in Science Advances https://www.science.org/doi/10.1126/sciadv.abi6110.

Researchers found that CBD-taking patients with epilepsy had lower COVID-19 rates than those not taking it. However, a retrospective look at only a few patients doesn’t yield any conclusive results. Rosner stated that only randomized clinical trials could do this.

She stated, “I’m sure my message isn’t something people want to hear,”

Her team discovered that small amounts of tetrahydrocannabinol, the cannabis ingredient responsible for the high, could not prevent the virus from reproducing in cells.

Rosner stated that THC did not work and CBD was prevented from working together.

CBD DISPENSARY OFFERS NO COVID CURES

Another team recently reported in The Journal of Natural Products, that CBDA and CBG are effective at stopping the coronavirus breaking into cells.

Richard van Breemen of Oregon State University stated that the dosages his team had tested weren’t toxic to cells. According to his team, it isn’t clear if similar high doses are safe for people.

Rosner explained that the best way to get the most effective drug dose is to reduce side effects. This is because the drug filters through the liver.

While CBD in CBD from commercial products was far less pure than the CBD that her team tested, it contained more than 98% purity. She said that people should be careful not to rush out to get CBD at their local dispensary.

CBD products now come in many forms, and are being promoted as pain relief and treatments.

With COVID-19, small CBD studies in humans are currently underway.

Brazilian researchers randomly allocated 105 patients suffering from mild to moderate COVID-19, and gave them either CBD or a placebo. The treatment was administered for 14 days. The CBD had no apparent effect, according to an October report in Cannabis and Cannabinoid Research https://www.liebertpub.com/doi/10.1089/can.2021.0093.

Researchers at Sheba Medical Center (Israel) randomly assigned mild COVID patients to CBD and a placebo in an experiment.

The Rabin Medical Center in Israel has launched an early stage trial to assess the effects of CBD on severely or critically ill patients. According to Dr. Moshe Nohurun, the study leader, it was difficult for participants to be enrolled because Omicron-driven coronavirus waves “mainly consist of mild and moderately ill patients.”

Rosner’s research team has begun to explore the possibility of conducting a clinical trial, which would probably focus on mild and asymptomatic COVID cases. Rosner is worried that overstating the benefits of CBD will encourage people to use masks, self-medicate using CBD and not seek vaccines.

We would like to be able say precisely” that certain cannabinoids help, she stated, however, “vaccine-induced antibody and antibiotic drugs are far more effective in blocking infection.”

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