According to researchers at the University of Waterloo, synthetic cannabidiol (or CBD) may give protection against viruses such as COVID-19.
A team of researchers discovered that pure pharmaceutical grade CBD protected human kidney cells from further spread of COVID-19 in a recent investigation employing human kidney cells.
According to lead researcher Robin Duncan, human cells generally have a rapid immune identification response when they contact a virus.
Duncan, a professor in the Department of Kinesiology and Health Sciences at the University of Waterloo, said the cells react quickly to them. When cells get better at doing that, they can die. Consequently, that infection will be removed, and patients may not even know that you were infected.\
Hemp Compounds Prevent COVID-19
When UW researchers added CBD to kidney cells, the immunological recognition to COVID-19 was far more significant, quicker, and demonstrated the cell’s capacity to detect.
Maria Fernandes, a postdoctoral fellow at the University of Washington who conducted the cell tests, said the team was delighted to find that CBD activated the immune system and caused the cells to protect themselves from contaminating all the healthy ones.
Duncan also said that her team injected therapeutic levels of CBD to cells that had not been exposed to COVID-19, and the CBD appeared to have ‘primed’ the cells’ immune response without the cell perishing.
Duncan also mentioned that the researchers noted an improvement in virus readiness and that it can be used not just for COVID but also for other viruses.
Duncan stressed that this is not a COVID-19 cure and that no human trials have been done.
According to Duncan, the University of Washington study team discusses with the Public Health Agency of Canada and a biosafety level four facility in Winnipeg about testing their CBD research on mice.
Duncan also mentioned that they are collaborating with a tiny Canadian pharmaceutical start-up with the goal of “hopefully getting this toward clinical testing.”
The University of Washington researchers employed an ultra-pure CBD source not available in Canada.
“This really isn’t something people should go out and do and try themselves right now” stated Duncan.
