Study: Certain Cannabinoid Extracts May Dampen Fatal COVID-19 Symptoms

Researchers at the University of Lethbridge’s Department of Biological Sciences and Pathway RX, a company aiming to develop cannabis therapies, suggest that certain cannabis strains show the potential to quell an immune system in the midst of a cytokine storm which occurs in some COVID-19 patients and leads to respiratory distress syndrome, the Lethbridge Heraldreports.

The study is an update to the researchers’ findings published in April that found THC and CBD extracts could help prevent the coronavirus from spreading to and infecting humans.

Dr. Olga Kovalchuk, an author behind both studies, said in a press release the new research “identified three extracts that are very, very good strains” and the researchers altogether “have five strains we could formulate a clinical trial on right now.”

The specific strains identified by the researchers seem to control the immune response, working to prevent the cytokine storm while still maintaining some of the molecules needed to fight the virus. Kovalchuk says the extracts work through the endocannabinoid system, which regulates many of the body’s responses and has receptors that bind with cannabinoids.