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Cannabis compounds can stop COVID-19 from entering human cells, study finds

GoatCheese

Active member
Veteran
Cannabis compounds can stop the virus that causes COVID-19 from entering human cells by binding to the spike protein and blocking it from infecting people, study finds
  • The compounds are found in hemp and can be taken orally or combine with the coronavirus vaccine
  • The compounds, a pair of cannabinoid acids, bind to the SARS-CoV-2 spike protein
  • This blocks the virus from infecting human cells, thus stopping COVID-19
12 January 2022
https://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencet...udy-finds.html
Specific cannabis compounds can prevent the virus that causes COVID-19 from entering human cells.
Researchers at Oregon State University identified a pair of cannabinoid acids that bind to the SARS-CoV-2 spike protein, blocking a critical step in the process the virus uses to infect people.
The team found the cannabis compounds, which can be taken orally and are abundantly found in hemp, blocked the alpha and beta variants from infecting the human cells - but the team notes those are the only two variants studied in this research.

This means, according to the team, the compounds could prove successfully in blocking other coronavirus strains.
Richard van Breemen, a researcher with Oregon State's Global Hemp Innovation Center and study lead, said in a statement: 'These cannabinoid acids are abundant in hemp and in 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 the hemp compounds were equally effective against variants of SARS-CoV-2, including variant B.1.1.7, which was first detected in the United Kingdom, and variant B.1.351, first detected in South Africa.'

The specific compounds are cannabigerolic acid, or CBGA, and cannabidiolic acid, CBDA, and the spike protein is the same drug target used in COVID-19 vaccines and antibody therapy.
SARS-CoV-2, which is characterized by crown-like protrusions on its outer surface, features RNA strands that encode its four main structural proteins – spike, envelope, membrane and nucleocapsid – as well as 16 nonstructural proteins and several 'accessory' proteins, van Breemen said.
'Any part of the infection and replication cycle is a potential target for antiviral intervention, and the connection of the spike protein's receptor binding domain to the human cell surface receptor ACE2 is a critical step in that cycle,' he said.
'That means cell entry inhibitors, like the acids from hemp, could be used to prevent SARS-CoV-2 infection and also to shorten infections by preventing virus particles from infecting human cells.
'They bind to the spike proteins so those proteins can't bind to the ACE2 enzyme, which is abundant on the outer membrane of endothelial cells in the lungs and other organs.'
And using compounds to block virus-receptor interaction is nothing new: it has been used to treat HIV-1 and hepatitis.

'One of the primary concerns in the pandemic is the spread of variants, of which there are many, and B.1.1.7 and B.1.351 are among the most widespread and concerning,' said van Breeman.
'These variants are well known for evading antibodies against early lineage SARS-CoV-2, which is obviously concerning given that current vaccination strategies rely on the early lineage spike protein as an antigen.
'Our data show CBDA and CBGA are effective against the two variants we looked at, and we hope that trend will extend to other existing and future variants.'
 

Rory Borealis

Well-known member
Veteran
There has been chatter about this since 2020. Now we have actual research to back it up. Thanks for sharing this.
 

f-e

Well-known member
Mentor
Veteran
There is an unexplained reason why Africans in Africa seem resilient, while those outside of Africa are high risk.
The reason can't be genetics. It must be living arrangements. I have never been, but do they smoke plenty or is it just so damn hot and dry that the virus can't be bothered.

Great news either way :)
How do we work with it.
 

GoatCheese

Active member
Veteran
So, consume raw cannabis I guess?

I had some type of corona virus in late 2017 and just bong hits of my CBD Critical Cure noticeably improved the heavy feeling in my lungs, so it doesn’t have to be just CBDA or raw cannabis. I’m sure all types of ways to use strong CBD-rich cannabis (edibles, vaping/smoking) will do.
Smoking may irritate some peoples lungs so maybe vaping would be a better option but bong hits worked for me just fine.

My CBD Critical Cure keeper (CBD version of Critical Kush by Barney's Farm) is around 7+% THC and 10+% CBD (my estimation not a lab test) and i feel that little THC (which is antiviral and also has a numbing effect) with the CBD may also play are role in making pneumonia patients feel better and ease the heavy feeling in their lungs.
Other compunds in cannabis, besides just CBD and THC, also have antiviral/-bacterial properties.


Strong CBD/THC to help with symptoms of Pneumonia (and Coronavirus?)
https://www.icmag.com/forum/talk-abo...nd-coronavirus
 

Brother Nature

Well-known member
Interview with the dude..

Your paper is really making the rounds—congratulations! Can you walk me through your key findings?
Dr. Richard van Breemen:
Our interest has always been in discovering natural products that have medicinal value. With COVID, we thought we'd go about trying to find natural products that can stop the virus from infecting cells or inhibit their ability to replicate and go on to infect other individuals. We decided to attack the virus at the starting point, where it enters the cell. That's the exact same point at which antibodies attack the virus.

We asked the question: “Could small molecules from nature, like from plants, have the same ability to stop the virus from infecting a cell if they had an ability to bind to the surface of the virus and specifically to the spike protein of the virus, which is what's making contact with the human cell and enabling it to infect the cell?”
“So they didn't give me the money. We did it anyway”​

Initially, when we proposed this to the National Institutes of Health (NIH) back in 2020, one of the reviewers said, no one’s made the proof of principle that this can work. So they didn't give me the money. We did it anyway, and we've established this principle that small molecules including natural products, in this case from hemp, have the ability to stop the virus from infecting human cells.

We were looking at black cohosh, and red clover and licorice, and we added hemp, and we discovered three compounds in hemp that had this high ability to bind to the spike protein. And we even determined that some of them bind to sites on that spike protein and synergistically they can have a bigger effect than if one is using one compound at a time instead of the mixture. So we think the mixture of cannabidiolic acid (CBD-A), cannabigerolic acid (CBG-A), and tetrahydrocannabinolic acid (THC-A) would be more effective than any one of them alone. So this speaks to the idea that the supplement, containing a complex extract of a plant, sometimes is better than monotherapy in the traditional drug approach, where you purify it and use only one compound at a time.

I did see in the study that, crucially, you couldn't really test THC-A in the ways that you wanted to, because it's a controlled substance, and you just weren't able to get your hands on enough of it to test it. Is that right?
That is correct. We screened extracts of hemp, and there are traces of THC-A in these extracts. And so we identified it, but we weren't allowed, actually due to campus rules. We weren't allowed to purify it and even test it alone, because it can be converted to THC. If one heats it, the acid group can be removed and chemically it transforms into a psychoactive substance, but THC-A alone is not psychoactive.

Neither CBD-A nor CBG-A are psychoactive, right? So what we're looking at is a little more complicated than smoking weed to prevent COVID-19 infection. What we're talking about is something that would be orally ingested. What do you envision for that?
I envision oral administration in the form of a dietary supplement like a pill or an oil or a gummy, something like that. We all know that if we get exposed, we go to meet a friend and the friend tells us later they've tested positive for COVID. Then, we're all worried about getting sick. That's the time I would recommend taking a supplement that has the capability of preventing infection. But I don't advocate these particular compounds as a treatment or cure for someone who's hospitalized and severely ill. I think we need combinations of therapies that might include drugs that stop the virus at other points in its lifecycle for that, but as a weakly active, but nevertheless, I think effective prevention measure. I think this is a good place to use this dietary supplement. I think it can help keep people healthy.

This study has made waves on the internet, and it could contribute to public perception that recreationally smoking marijuana would have the same effect on COVID-19 prevention as ingesting an oral supplement, like you describe.
The active compounds we've discovered in hemp are cannabidiolic acid, CBD-A, CBG-A, and THC-A. ‘A’ stands for an acid group, a carboxylic acid — this group can be removed upon treatment. So if these hemp products containing these compounds are smoked or vaped, the heat exposure could cause the chemical decomposition or conversion of CBD-A to CBD, CBG-A to CBG, and THC-A to THC. So, we know that CBD, CBG and THC are not active against the virus. So, we would recommend in favor of an oral administration of these compounds instead of smoking them, inhaling them from vaping.

So, just to be clear: Smoking these compounds would not have the same effect on COVID-19 infection risk as ingesting them orally?
We certainly expect it would have a reduced effect. I haven't done the experiments to see how rapidly this conversion takes place and what the temperature limits are. But we do know that the cannabidiolic acid is unstable in heat.

Another study out of the University of Waterloo, in Ontario, Canada, offered evidence that ingesting CBD, as opposed to CBD-A, could “prime” the immune system for COVID-19 protection. Do you have any thoughts on this finding?
I've not had a chance to read that one yet. But there have been reports that some of the other connected cannabinoids like CBD certainly have anti-inflammatory activity. And of course, for COVID patients who are suffering what they call a “cytokine storm,” which is an immune response that causes a lot of inflammation, any therapeutic treatment that reduces that inflammation is a good thing. So, I'm sure the CBD would be beneficial in that respect.

You mentioned some pushback from the NIH in terms of funding. Can you talk to me a little bit more about the legal framework for cannabis-based medicine or research around cannabis. Have you come up against any other roadblocks like that, in your work broadly and with this study in particular?
There's always legal issues when the federal government makes one rule and the states make another rule. We are seeing that every year the rules are changing governing how one can use hemp and have constituents for research or even personal use. At the moment, the Department of Agriculture is allowing hemp cultivation. We have a research center at the Oregon State University that's focused on helping develop products of all kinds, whether for building purposes for fiber for agricultural use to feed livestock, or for medicinal value and so forth. My group is interested in the medicinal aspects of hemp. There is one drug, cannabidiol, CBD product approved for the treatment of juvenile epilepsy. It's a complex plant. I think there will be other drugs that will eventually be discovered and developed from hemp. And perhaps we've just found some.

Do you think that federal legalization could be sort of a new frontier and research in this realm?
Absolutely, yes. Hemp is an unusual plant in the sense that it has several unique classes of compounds not found elsewhere in nature. It's rich in compounds that have bioavailability. Often, we’ll do research on a plant and find compounds that, in a lab setting, seem to be effective and a mechanism that could be beneficial for health. But then when doing a human study, we find maybe they're not as active because they don't reach the bloodstream if given in pill form. Hemp is different. We know that many constituents of hemp are active. We know that they’re active when given in oral, when given by inhalation, and given by transdermal patches and so forth. So, hemp is unusually rich in compounds with known biological activity, and they're able to reach the human bloodstream and have effects. And they have a high degree of safety!

Looking forward, do you have any thoughts on how you hope to see your findings contribute to scientific understanding of cannabis and COVID? And federal response to the pandemic and emerging variants?
In answer to one of my grant reviews, we have established the principle that small molecules can prevent viral infection. So that, I believe, is an important sort of basic science discovery. Secondly, we found compounds in hemp that have, at least in cell culture with live virus, the ability to stop cells from being infected. I would love to see a follow up study where we start developing what the oral dose ought to be. How can we maintain how many doses per day and what level do we need to help prevent viral infection or transmission? And I think we have a product that should be safe to use eventually. I can envision hemp extracts being used to help people stay healthy and help stop them getting sick from COVID.

Have you had the chance to check out any of the responses to your research on the internet, or, crucially, the memes that have been circulating about it?
I'm doing my best to keep up with messages as they come in. I've really not had a chance to check the response on the internet yet. So, I'm really delighted that our work is getting attention. I'm glad people are viewing it as important. We, of course, hoped it would be viewed that way. We're very thankful everybody likes it.

Thank you so much for your time. Is there anything else you’d like to add?
I'm just going to keep my fingers crossed that my next NIH grant proposal gets funded.
 

St. Phatty

Active member
Would think this might show up in Covid stats for Humboldt or Mendo, places where a lot of people consume a lot of Cannabis.

When we smoke for THC, how much CBD are we getting ?
 

GoatCheese

Active member
Veteran
Would think this might show up in Covid stats for Humboldt or Mendo, places where a lot of people consume a lot of Cannabis.

When we smoke for THC, how much CBD are we getting ?

Usually normal THC-rich weed doesn’t have much cbd, around 0-2%. When the CBD% hits over ten you can very clearly feel it in the effect, and you can still feel it hours later when you smoke some THC-only stuff, it inhibits part the normal THC effect.
My CBD Critical Cure feels more like Moroccan Super Polm hashish than “weed” because of the high CBD %
 

Chi13

Well-known member
ICMag Donor
I was searching for the paper and found this study too, but seems an earlier one. This suggests that it is CBD that is useful, and that THC inhibits the CBD.I don't know what the implications are for those of us with THC in our system? i was planning on growing my first CBD plant this year.

"Notably, combining CBD with THC (1:1) significantly suppressed CBD efficacy consistent with competitive inhibition by THC".
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC7987002/
 

goingrey

Well-known member
I was searching for the paper and found this study too, but seems an earlier one. This suggests that it is CBD that is useful, and that THC inhibits the CBD.I don't know what the implications are for those of us with THC in our system? i was planning on growing my first CBD plant this year.

"Notably, combining CBD with THC (1:1) significantly suppressed CBD efficacy consistent with competitive inhibition by THC".
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC7987002/

I believe both are useful, and both inhibit (or compete with) each other.

Edit: in general that is. Read the paper and for covid it seems not.
no antiviral activity was exhibited by the structurally closely related congeners that share biosynthesis pathways and form the biogenetically determined residual complexity of CBD purified from C. sativa: THC, cannabidiolic acid (CBDA), cannabidivarin (CBDV), cannabichromene (CBC), or cannabigerol (CBG)
Interestingly it also mentions CBDA as having no antiviral activity, which is what the Daily Mail article says has preventative qualities for covid. But I suppose because it is some kind of blocker and not an antiviral agent.
 

mexweed

Active member
Veteran
lol anytime some remotely valid scientific paper comes out showing cannabis compounds help with something so many people think they will get the benefits from smoking weed, the reality is smoking makes your lungs more susceptible to infection, dabbing too much can actually mimic pneumonia, which is the last thing you want with covid

eating fairly large amounts of the pure decarbed/active oil is the way to go
 

GoatCheese

Active member
Veteran
lol anytime some remotely valid scientific paper comes out showing cannabis compounds help with something so many people think they will get the benefits from smoking weed, the reality is smoking makes your lungs more susceptible to infection, dabbing too much can actually mimic pneumonia, which is the last thing you want with covid

eating fairly large amounts of the pure decarbed/active oil is the way to go

Have you actually tried smoking potent CBD rich weed while having pneumonia like i did
..or are you just commenting things without personal experience at all?
No? Then STFU


Strong CBD/THC to help with symptoms of Pneumonia (and Coronavirus?)
https://www.icmag.com/forum/talk-abo...nd-coronavirus
 

goingrey

Well-known member


Have you actually tried smoking potent CBD rich weed while having pneumonia like i did
..or are you just commenting things without personal experience at all?
No? Then STFU


Strong CBD/THC to help with symptoms of Pneumonia (and Coronavirus?)
https://www.icmag.com/forum/talk-abo...nd-coronavirus

Great to hear your good experience with smoking CBD-rich weed.

Eating decarbed/activated oil does sound like a pretty healthy way to administer the medicine too, though.
 

f-e

Well-known member
Mentor
Veteran
During the first wave I got quite a bit of exposure. Every few weeks I started to get a cough, and halted it with a single hit. Actually smoking. One hit.
I thought this may of been my lungs responding to the smoke, doing something that effected the virus as a side effect.
Another odd thing. I have always coughed a lot lot easier than others. During my first infection, smoking didn't make me cough at all. That infection had me close to deaths door. It was the later infections that I saw off with a hit, and produced little coughing. If I have a hit now I'm feeling alright, I will cough, but only a little more than friends do. There is a strong connection there on many levels, where the effect of this virus on my lungs has not been one to stop me smoking, but one that's made it easier. By huge measures.
I can't try and say it was the cannabis, as that is all I smoke. Smoking helped though. Like an outright cure for reinfections.
 

romanoweed

Well-known member
I can imagine that smoking still would help.
I vividly remeber the ONLY time i managed to stop a Cold was when i smoked a menthol Cigarette in the mids of the Cold. The next day i woke up COMPLEETLY cured.
I drunk peppermint Tee alot of times when beeing Sick , funnily never in my Live did i experience such a strong benefit as from smoking a Menthol (peppermint) cigarette.

So, i dont know how it is with cannabis, but it may be similar, doesent Cannabis have similar properties as Peppermint to a degree?

Anyway, i found this astounding, since we usually dont regard smoking as very benefitial, but actually it makes sense, as smoke enters the same pathways as the Air we breathe.

I personally felt very happy after making me a Cannabis Tea with small dosage .. plus a couple puffs here and there.

Also, i think daily smokers might not profit as much, cause any medicament looses strenght over looooong periods.
 

f-e

Well-known member
Mentor
Veteran
exposure (to heat) could cause the chemical decomposition or conversion of CBD-A to CBD, CBG-A to CBG, and THC-A to THC. So, we know that CBD, CBG and THC are not active against the virus.

The word 'so' used here, looks like they are extracting a fact incorrectly. This statement is therefore false.
A Canadian uni study is spoke of, where they found cbd as apposed to cbd-a was useful. A total contradiction.
It's possible to conclude the researchers here didn't actually try cbd, but perhaps the Canadians tried cbd-a.
The general weighting of the two papers (as referenced) is towards smoking not eating.
 

GoatCheese

Active member
Veteran
Great to hear your good experience with smoking CBD-rich weed.

Eating decarbed/activated oil does sound like a pretty healthy way to administer the medicine too, though.

Sure, but with smoking/vaping it the relief is pretty much instant in the lungs. As fast as you can spell c-a-t.

Some cannabis compounds are also anti –inflammatory - not just antiviral/-bacterial - so if your lungs can handle it when you’re sick, it can be good thing to get some in your lungs too.

Ofcourse i’m not suggesting that if you’re hooked up onto a ventilator that you should pull the tube out and hit the bong! Also i haven’t suggested you should be smoking like a chimney when you have a pneumonia, use your f-ing head, people.

Some idiots just seem to live in the illusion that just about every time you get the covid you’ll have to go to the hospital or your lungs will be full of holes. Watch more TV, morons!
..Mohammed Salah, the fooball player, had covid before the vaccines were out and he’s having the season of his life! There’s alot of talk that is he the best football player in the world atm. I bet his lugs could have taken few small bong hits, but i’m only speculating.
Of course you want to have your bong + grill or vape to be as clean as possible (my bong sure wasn’t), and your cannabis clean and well grown so that it will be easy as possible for your lungs.

In my original thread i started soon after the covid-thing started (3/2020) i say that you should use any means you see fit to get potent cbd in your system; edibles, vape what ever. Corona virus also gets in your stomach so oil/edibles would surely be a good thing.
..but for pneumonia/infection in the lungs i recommend people to try small vape/bong hits of potent cbd stuff cause for me the relief was quite dramatic. If your lungs get more irritated by vaping/bong hits people will notice this quite soon and will stop it. I really doubt a small bong hit will be a death sentence. Surely wasn’t for me, the relief i felt was quite wonderful.

But if you’re afraid to vape/smoke when you’re sick with covid or regular pneumonia, then don’t do it. Then do edibles/oil.
:tiphat:
 

GoatCheese

Active member
Veteran
The word 'so' used here, looks like they are extracting a fact incorrectly. This statement is therefore false.
A Canadian uni study is spoke of, where they found cbd as apposed to cbd-a was useful. A total contradiction.
It's possible to conclude the researchers here didn't actually try cbd, but perhaps the Canadians tried cbd-a.
The general weighting of the two papers (as referenced) is towards smoking not eating.

As i just mentioned in my post, it’s not only the antiviral thing we need to look at, it’s also the anti-inflammatory properties of cannabis compounds at play.

Great to hear about your positive smoking experience, f e
We need to document these positive cannabis-covid/pneumonia experiences as much as possible regardless how you used it to get relief. It’s all good.

Esp. in countries where cannabis is legal people should be vocal about these positive experiences. It’s the only way we will beat big pharma and their poisons.
 

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