The Effects of Medical Cannabis on Pulmonary Inflammation Caused by Covid-19

By Sechat Content*

As demonstrated by a series of studies, CBD has the ability to improve oxygen levels and reduce inflammation and physical damage to the lungs related to acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS). See more content on the subject at the end of the article.

According to a study conducted by the Medical College of Georgia, the mechanisms behind these results show that CBD normalizes the levels of a peptide called apelin, which is known to reduce inflammation. The levels of this peptide are low during a COVID-19 infection. However, to better understand how medical cannabis can assist in pulmonary inflammation caused by the coronavirus infection, it is necessary to understand how the so-called “inflammatory storm” occurs.

An inflammatory storm is the term given to a large magnitude inflammation caused by inflammatory cytokines. When a viral disease, such as Covid-19, is detected in the human body, immune cells alert other cells through cytokines; however, when the alert is made through other molecules, such as catecholamines, more cytokines than necessary may be released. As a consequence, they may end up attacking the infected individual's own body, causing the inflammatory storm. In the case of coronavirus infections, cytokines primarily affect the lungs. 

To combat the effects of the high number of cytokines in the body, and thus combat the inflammatory storm, medical cannabis may be effective. According to research conducted in July by the University of Georgia, in rodents, CBD can reduce and even reverse the symptoms of the storm, as it has the potential to control exaggerated immune system responses, such as the excessive release of cytokines.

The co-author of the article and a member of the Medical College of Georgia, Jack Yu, stated in a statement that the research results show that CBD can assist the lungs in recovering from the inflammatory storm caused by the coronavirus and improve blood oxygen levels in the body.

Reducing Inflammation with CBD

According to studies conducted by the Medical College of Georgia, CBD is capable of normalizing the levels of a peptide called apelin, which is known to reduce inflammation. The levels of this peptide are low during a COVID-19 infection.

The blood levels of apelin, which is an important regulator in reducing blood pressure and inflammation, dropped to nearly zero in the authors' ARDS model and increased 20 times with CBD. When blood pressure is high, for example, apelin levels should increase to help reduce pressure. Apelin should do the same to help normalize inflammation in the lungs and the respiratory difficulties associated with ARDS.

“Ideally, with ARDS, it would increase in areas of the lungs where it is necessary to improve blood and oxygen flow to compensate and protect,” said Babak Baban, an immunologist at DCG. But when the authors analyzed their ARDS model, apelin did not do this either and instead decreased both in the lung tissue itself and in the general circulation. However, this changed when they administered CBD.

The authors emphasize that they still do not know if the new coronavirus or CBD has a direct effect on apelin, or if these are subsequent consequences; however, they are already working to find out.

Can Medical Cannabis Help Prevent COVID-19?

Prevention

The COVID-19 virus enters human cells through the angiotensin-converting enzyme 2, also known as the ACE2 receptor, with many similarities between ACE2 and apelin, including the fact that many types of cells and tissues have both, including the lungs.

New approaches to COVID-19 prevention include a study examining the possibility of incorporating CBD into oral solutions, such as mouthwashes and gargles, with the aim of ‘reducing or modulating ACE2 levels in high-risk tissues’. Studies have found that ACE2 levels change during the progression of COVID-19, and therefore, the ability to modulate these levels becomes particularly important, as ACE2 has proven essential for lung function in animal models of the SARS virus.

Reducing Severity and Impact

Initial evidence has provisionally indicated that CBD and THC may be beneficial in treating patients whose body inflammatory response has become pathogenic. Much research in this field has focused on the ability of cannabinoids and terpenes to reduce the immune system response without suppressing it. 

Early findings from a study currently being conducted by the terpene manufacturer Eybna and the cannabis research and development company CannaSoul Analytics, both from Israel, seem to indicate that the combination of terpenes and cannabinoids used is up to twice as effective as the corticosteroid dexamethasone when used to reduce inflammation from COVID-19. The study has not yet been peer-reviewed.

Another new approach being investigated in Israel is the development of a potential cell therapy treatment that uses exosomes loaded with CBD to treat patients with COVID-19. The intention of this technology is to ‘target both central nervous system indications and the COVID-19 coronavirus’. CBD-loaded exosomes have the potential to provide a highly synergistic effect of anti-inflammatory properties, targeting specific damaged organs, such as infected lung cells.

*With information from: Health Europa

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