CBD News Blog – The Dental College of Georgia (DCG) and the Medical College of Georgia, recently performed a study which produced results showing that cannabidiol (CBD), a non-psychoactive cannabinoid found in cannabis, reduces damage in the lungs spurred by cytokine storms caused by coronavirus (COVID-19).

A recent study from the Dental College of Georgia (DCG) (Augusta, Georgia) and the Medical College of Georgia (Augusta, Georgia) produced results showing that cannabidiol (CBD), a non-psychoactive cannabinoid found in cannabis, reduces damage in the lungs spurred by cytokine storms caused by coronavirus (COVID-19) (1). In an earlier study (2), the researchers illustrated that CBD can reduce inflammation and physical lung damage associated with adult respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS), along with improved oxygen levels. The new study revealed the mechanisms behind these earlier results, exhibiting that CBD normalizes levels of apelin, a peptide known to reduce inflammation. During a COVID-19 infection, levels of the apelin peptide are low. Results of this study have been published in the Journal of Cellular and Molecular Medicine (3).

In the authors ARDS model, blood levels of apelin (a crucial piece in regulation, bringing both blood pressure and inflammation down) had dropped close to zero and increased 20 times with CBD. In the instance that blood pressure gets too high, apelin levels rise up to help alleviate the pressure. It is assumed that apelin should also help normalize inflammation in the lungs and other related breathing difficulties linked to ARDS. “Ideally with ARDS it would increase in areas of the lungs where it’s needed to improve blood and oxygen flow to compensate and to protect,” said Dr. Babak Baban, DCG immunologist (1). In their ARDS model, apelin did neither of these. When CBD was administered, apelin increased.

https://www.cannabissciencetech.com/view/covid-19-lung-inflammation-reduced-by-cbd