Since early 2020, Europe has been undergoing a totally unprecedented situation... A war against an invisible enemy: COVID-19. After several months' containment before the summer, European leaders are looking for solutions to mitigate this 2nd wave. Last night, French President Emmanuel Macronchose to recontain his entire country for a minimum of 4 weeks. As the number of people affected grows daily, as does the number of deaths, scientists around the world have begun to investigate whether the CBD cannabis plant could reduce COVID-19 lung inflammation. We'll take a closer look in the next few lines.

CBD helps rebalance apelin levels

The idea of CBD's effectiveness against COVID-19 took shape a few days ago. American researchers from the Medical College of Georgia (MCG) at Augusta University have discovered that cannabidiol helps reduce lung damage while preventing respiratory distress syndrome. A mechanism linked to apelin levels. These results were published on October 15 in the Journal of Cellular and Molecular Medicine.

What is apeline?

Apelin is "a protective peptide produced by cells of the blood, brain, heart, lungs and adipose tissue". American scientists are unanimous in their belief that apelin plays a role in regulating blood pressure, thereby reducing inflammation. Indeed, tests have shown that CBD can increase levels of this molecule, making the cytokine storm that causes violent inflammatory reactions damaging the lungs and other organs less progressive. Patients suffering fatal respiratory distress generally had apelin levels close to zero.

As you may have guessed, the low levels are caused by the cytokine shock engendered by the Covid-19 infection... All of which forces the immune system to overreact and thus provoke inflammation. In addition, the study reports that apelin levels increase 20-fold after CBD treatment, allowing a return to "normal" levels. normal " - said Dr. Jack Yu, Medical Scientist and Head of Pediatric Plastic Surgery at MCG, on the first apparent link between CBD and apelin. Cannabidiol could indeed reduce COVID-19-related lung inflammation.

Need for further studies and trials

Although this research seems to lead to gradual optimism, the authors remain cautious and point out that more work is needed. The initial findings are based on an observational study and therefore need to be confirmed.

"It's an association but we don't yet know what's causal, but it's a very good indicator of disease," explained Dr Babak Baban, immunologist and author of the study.

Thus, it will be essential to conduct trials before including CBD as part of a treatment process for Covid-19.

To be continued...

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