Cannabis could prevent COVID infection, according to a new study

A team of researchers from Oregon State University and Oregon Health and Science University (USA) proposes the use of calamus compounds as a weapon against COVID-19. The study, which has been published in the Journal of Natural Products , shows that the cannabinoids CBGA and CBDA can bind to the ‘spike’ protein of the coronavirus , thus preventing it from adhering to healthy human cells and turning them into viral factories.

The key is that this pair of cannabinoid acids block a critical step in the process that the virus uses to infect people . The team found that cannabis compounds, which can be taken orally and are found abundantly in hemp, blocked the alpha and beta variants from infecting human cells.

Although they only tested these variants of the coronavirus, the researchers believe they could be equally effective against other strains of the virus.

“These cannabinoid acids are abundant in hemp and many hemp extracts. They are not controlled substances like THC, the psychoactive ingredient in marijuana, and have a good safety profile in humans, and our research showed that hemp compounds or were equally effective against SARS-CoV-2 variants, including variant B.1.1.7, which was first detected in the UK, and variant B.1.351, first detected in South Africa,” he explains. Richard van Breemen, a researcher at the Oregon State Global Hemp Innovation Center and leader of the study.

The research does not show that smoking marijuana will protect us from COVID-19, but the results regarding this pair of compounds are intriguing and open a new path of protection against the disease that should be further explored in new studies. We could have a useful medicine to prevent a COVID-19 infection or help us fight the virus given the number of variants we have been facing since its appearance.

Referencia: van Breemen, R.B. et al. (2022). Cannabinoids Block Cellular Entry of SARS-CoV-2 and the Emerging Variants. Journal of Natural Products. https://doi.org/10.1021/acs.jnatprod.1c00946, https://pubs.acs.org/doi/10.1021/acs.jnatprod.1c00946