CBD, cannabis, coroavirus and our immune system?

In a new study, scientists have shown that one of the non-psychoactive cannabinoids in cannabis (CBD) reduces lung damage caused by cytokine storms, which are caused by COVID-19, by allowing levels of a natural peptide to increase.

Researchers at the Dental College of Georgia (DCG) and the Medical College of Georgia showed earlier this year that CBD has the ability to improve oxygen levels and reduce inflammation and physical lung damage associated with adult respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS). This new study has now demonstrated the mechanisms behind these results, showing that CBD normalises levels of a peptide called apelin, which is known to reduce inflammation. Levels of this peptide are low during COVID-19 infection.

Although the researchers say the peptide clearly plays an important role, they do not attribute all the benefits of CBD to apelin. The findings were published in the Journal of Cellular and Molecular Medicine.

Blood levels of apelin, an important regulator that lowers both blood pressure and inflammation, dropped almost to zero in the authors' ARDS model and increased 20-fold with CBD. For example, when blood pressure gets high, apelin levels should rise to lower pressure. Apelin should do the same to normalise inflammation in the lungs and the associated breathing difficulties associated with ARDS.

"Ideally, in ARDS, it would increase in the areas of the lung where it is needed to improve blood and oxygen flow for compensation and protection," said Dr Babak Baban, DCG immunologist. But when the authors looked at their ARDS model, apelin did neither, decreasing both in the lung tissue itself and in the general circulation. This changed, however, when they administered CBD.

It is an observation; we don't know yet if it is causative, but it is a very good indicator of the disease," Baban said.

The authors note that the finding of a dramatic reduction in apelin in ARDS makes levels of the protective peptide a potential early biomarker for ARDS and response to treatment efforts.

COVID-19 virus enters human cells via the equally ubiquitous angiotensin-converting enzyme 2, known as the ACE2 receptor.There are many similarities between ACE2 and apelin, including the fact that many cell types and tissues have both, including the lung.

Apelin and ACE2 normally work together to control blood pressure, and upregulation of both enzymes may be helpful in cardiovascular disease, including heart failure, by lowering blood pressure while increasing the heart's pumping capacity.

The COVID-19 virus appears to disrupt this positive partnership, with the virus having the ability to dock onto the receptor for ACE2. This has been shown to lower ACE2 levels and increase levels of the potent vasoconstrictor angiotensin II, as less angiotensin II is broken down and fewer vasodilators (chemicals that dilate blood vessels) are produced, worsening the patient's prognosis.

Instead of helping ACE2 relax the blood vessels, it helps the virus get into the host where it produces more virus instead of relaxing the lungs and helping them work," says Yu.

Next steps in research include better understanding the interaction between CBD, apelin and the novel coronavirus, including why apelin goes down in the face of the virus and why CBD pulls the virus up.

The researchers will investigate how eliminating apelin affects ARDS and whether CBD without apelin provides the same benefit to the lungs. The authors note that it is likely that the virus suppresses something that inhibits apelin, and that CBD interferes with this process. However, they also question whether the interaction between apelin and CBD is the only way the compound works in this and other scenarios.

To conduct the studies, the authors developed a safe, relatively inexpensive model of ARDS by providing a synthetic analogue of double-stranded RNA called POLY (I:C). The novel coronavirus also has double-stranded RNA, whereas human DNA is single-stranded. The model produced a similar response to the virus, including extreme lung damage and the "cytokine storm" that reflects an exaggerated immune response in the lungs.

In these studies, a control group received intranasal saline for three consecutive days, while the COVID-19 model received intranasal POLY (I:C) for three days. A third group, the treatment group, received POLY (I:C) and CBD for the same period. The researchers found significantly reduced apelin levels in the mice that developed COVID-like symptoms compared to controls, and treatment with CBD normalised the immune response and apelin levels, as well as oxygen levels, swelling and scarring in the lungs.

"The apelinergic system is a very, very ubiquitous signalling system," Yu says. The authors note that apelin has different roles in different places and that its levels are consistently measurable in the lungs, one of the reasons why it should be a good biomarker.

We can probably best support our immunity by staying active, such as staying at home for at least 30 minutes a day and doing a simple relaxation or meditation exercise to reduce stress hormones.

Staying at home, however, risks being too close to the fridge all day long. It's important to control what you eat and when you eat, because eating too late at night worsens sleep and weakens the immune system. Melatonin, our sleep hormone, which is produced during sleep, can also contribute to healthy immune function.

Try to avoid alcohol, fatty foods, sugar, dairy products and white flour, all of which are known to increase your body's inflammatory state. Maintain a diet rich in micronutrients, zinc, vitamin C and flavonoids such as quercetin (found in both cannabis and apples).

You can also add supplements, consider adding some adaptogenic mushrooms, along with liposomal glutathione (not a direct immune boost, but can help support the liver).

Even if you do everything "right", you may still end up with the coronavirus, but the good news is that most people who are not in the high-risk groups will have a mild course of illness and recover at home. Some carriers may even have no symptoms at all or not even know they had them, which is why social distancing is so important, as asymptomatic transmission rates for coronavirus are probably quite high.

Keep smiling, these are tough times, but in a few months it will all go away. Our strength at this time is our knowledge and the data we collect and share.

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