People are trying to stock up on cannabis in states where it is legal. Possibly because some wanna have enough while hunkered down, possibly that some are touting online that cannabis is going to help them with a viral infection. Searching for CBD and anti-viral this research piece was published titled Cannabinoids and Viral Infections was found and it very much runs counter to the narrative that cannabis will help one overcome a viral infection like COVID-19. This provides a major correction to one of our previous articles.
Starting with the simplest terms, cannabis is an anti-inflammatory. That is great for recurrent diseases where inflammation or an overactive immune system causes unwanted inflammation. Diseases such as auto-immune disorders, irritable bowel syndrome/diverticulitis, and arthritis among others causing inflammation in the human body. This is more than likely due to it being an immunosuppressive.
When you have an infection, such as the recent COVID-19 that is going around, people do not want their immune system suppressed from doing its job.
How exactly could this happen?
When the human body has a foreign entry from a virus, the virus particle attaches to a receptor molecule on the surface of a host cell. The virus then takes over the cellular machinery to enter the cell and replicate itself, establishing the infection.
COVID-19 shares a lot in common with its coronavirus relatives such as SARS and MERS. The likelihood of Ca2+(calcium ions) being a factor in the attachment of the virus to the host cell is high. The virus triggers Ca2+ influx as viruses are adept at utilizing the universal Ca2+ signal to create a tailored cellular environment that meets their own demands. This is done because Ca2+ plays an important role in the entire virus’ structure formation, virus entry, viral gene expression, and much more.
particles, isolated from a patient. Image captured and
color-enhanced at the NIAID Integrated Research
Facility (IRF) in Fort Detrick, Maryland. Credit: NIAID
The triggering of Ca2+ starts off a chemical chain reaction that affects Ca2+-dependent enzyme systems, which are central to inflammatory and cell-autonomous antiviral responses. This ranges from the regulation of many signal transduction pathways, production of pro-inflammatory and pro-resolving lipid mediators downstream of arachidonic acid. Arachidonic acid is a key inflammatory intermediate and can also act as a vasodilator, widening the blood vessels.
And the part where cannabis comes in
As mentioned before cannabinoids are profoundly anti-inflammatory. As well they impair many Ca2+-dependent enzyme systems which are central to inflammatory and cell-autonomous antiviral responses. Notable exceptions to this viral concept in the human body is multiple sclerosis, and persistent infections of the central nervous system caused by a non-lytic virus, such as BDV, where cannabinoid treatment is found to be beneficial.
The inflammatory process is part of the healing process, and if a person is inhibiting it, one can expect the virus to take longer to be eradicated from the host.
What does all that mean?
As that initial research article states, Cannabinoids may relieve pain and may induce hyperphagia, which could be beneficial in cancer. However, these physiological characteristics are not relevant to most viral, bacterial fungal or parasitic infections, where the regulation of inflammation is central to controlling pathogen replication and immunopathology. However, the same anti-inflammatory properties of cannabinoids just described are detrimental to the host in handling the other infections. In most cases, a rapid and robust inflammatory response, associated with the production of proinflammatory cytokines and effect T lymphocytes capable of eliminating infected cells is essential to recovery and survival.
Final note
This doesn’t mean you stop using cannabis right now. The cannabinoids users are ingesting right now are being used for those anti-inflammatory issues, mental health reasons, digestive support and many other reasons. Your current health is important too. Nobody should be diminishing that. Just keep in mind that usage after getting sick from an infection like a virus, is highly likely to prolong how long you are sick.
We welcome any doctor, virologist, cellular biologist, or expert in this field to add to this discussion. We welcome a serious discussion about this topic during these times with so much misinformation being spread.