A chemical found in live cannabis plants could help protect human cells against covid infections, revealed a study published in the Journal of Natural Products.
Cannabigerolic acid (CBGA) and cannabidiolic acid (CBDA) – which are present in hemp were able to prevent Covid infections by binding onto the SARS-Cov-2 virus’s spike protein, claimed the scientists of Oregon State University.
“Any part of the infection and replication cycle is a potential target for antiviral intervention, and the connection of the spike protein’s receptor-binding domain to the human cell surface receptor ACE2 is a critical step in that cycle,” lead author of the highly ambitious study Dr Richard van Breemen noted in the research paper.
“That means cell entry inhibitors, like the acids from hemp, could be used to prevent SARS-CoV-2 infection and also to shorten infections by preventing virus particles from infecting human cells.”
Researchers also claimed that these acids could be used to combat variants of Covid.
They took things further and noted that their discovery can also help combat the Omicron variant of Covid-19.
“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,” mentioned Dr van Breemen in the paper.
Nevertheless, the study does not claim that smoking weed prevents Covid, rather one needs to ingest these hemp compounds orally – most likely in the form of a pill or liquid.
