Stay high-drated: Cannabis compounds can blunt COVID-19 infection, researchers find
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Hemp compounds, known scientifically as Cannabis sativa, can prevent the virus that causes COVID-19 from entering human cells, according to Oregon State University researchers.
The scientists found that a pair of cannabinoid acids bind to the SARS-CoV-2 spike protein, blocking a critical step in the process the virus uses to infect people.
“These cannabinoid acids are abundant in hemp and in many hemp extracts,” said Richard van Breemen, a researcher with Oregon State’s Global Hemp Innovation Center, College of Pharmacy and Linus Pauling Institute.
“They are not controlled substances like THC, the psychoactive ingredient in marijuana, and have a good safety profile in humans,” he added.
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Study: Cannabis can help prevent COVID-19
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CORVALLIS, Ore. (WTVO) – New research from Oregon State University shows that hemp compounds can prevent the COVID-19 virus from entering human cells.
Richard van Breemen, a researcher at Oregon State’s Global Hemp Innovation Center, published
this study in the Journal of Natural Products on Jan. 10. Van Breemen and his team found that cannabinoid acids can attach to and block the SARS-CoV-2 spike protein that the virus uses to infect people.
Hemp is different from the THC component in marijuana,
van Breemen said. Known scientifically as Cannabis sativa, the cannabinoid acids found in the plant and its extracts are often used in cosmetics and food products.
“They are not controlled substances like THC, the psychoactive ingredient in marijuana,” van Breemen said. “[They] have a good safety profile in humans.”
Cannabigerolic acid (CBGA) and cannabidioloic acid (CBDA) act as “cell entry inhibitors” that prevent spike proteins from binding to the ACE2 enzyme, which is found on the outside of cells on the lungs and other organs. The study also found that CBGA and CBDA are “equally effective against variants” of COVID-19, including the alpha and beta variants.
“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,” van Breemen said.
In addition to COVID-19, Van Breemen said these acids have been “helpful” in treating other viral infections such as HIV-1 and hepatitis.
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Cannabinoids Block Cellular Entry of SARS-CoV-2 and the Emerging Variants
As a complement to vaccines, small-molecule therapeutic agents are needed to treat or prevent infections by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus-2 (SARS-CoV-2) and its variants, which cause COVID-19. Affinity selection-mass spectrometry was used for the discovery of botanical ligands to...
pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov