Identifying candidate drugs effective in the new coronavirus disease 2019 (Covid-19) is crucial, pending a vaccine against SARS-CoV2. We suggest the hypothesis that Cannabidiol (CBD), a non-psychotropic phytocannabinoid, has the potential to limit the severity and progression of the disease for several reasons: 1) High-CBD Cannabis Sativa extracts are able to downregulate the expression of the two key receptors for SARS-CoV2 in several models of human epithelia 2) CBD exerts a wide range of immunomodulatory and anti-inflammatory effects and it can mitigate the uncontrolled cytokine production featuring Acute Lung Injury 3) Being a PPARγ agonist, it can display a direct antiviral activity 4) PPARγ agonists are regulators of fibroblast/myofibroblast activation and can inhibit the development of pulmonary fibrosis, thus ameliorating lung function in recovered patients. We hope our hypothesis, corroborated by several preclinical evidence, will inspire further targeted studies to test CBD as a support drug against the COVID-19 pandemic.

The potential of cannabidiol in the COVID‐19 pandemic / Esposito, Giuseppe; Pesce, Marcella; Seguella, Luisa; Sanseverino, Walter; Lu, Jie; Corpetti, Chiara; Sarnelli, Giovanni. - In: BRITISH JOURNAL OF PHARMACOLOGY. - ISSN 0007-1188. - (2020), pp. 1-4. [10.1111/bph.15157]

The potential of cannabidiol in the COVID‐19 pandemic.

Pesce, Marcella;Sarnelli, Giovanni
Conceptualization
2020

Abstract

Identifying candidate drugs effective in the new coronavirus disease 2019 (Covid-19) is crucial, pending a vaccine against SARS-CoV2. We suggest the hypothesis that Cannabidiol (CBD), a non-psychotropic phytocannabinoid, has the potential to limit the severity and progression of the disease for several reasons: 1) High-CBD Cannabis Sativa extracts are able to downregulate the expression of the two key receptors for SARS-CoV2 in several models of human epithelia 2) CBD exerts a wide range of immunomodulatory and anti-inflammatory effects and it can mitigate the uncontrolled cytokine production featuring Acute Lung Injury 3) Being a PPARγ agonist, it can display a direct antiviral activity 4) PPARγ agonists are regulators of fibroblast/myofibroblast activation and can inhibit the development of pulmonary fibrosis, thus ameliorating lung function in recovered patients. We hope our hypothesis, corroborated by several preclinical evidence, will inspire further targeted studies to test CBD as a support drug against the COVID-19 pandemic.
2020
The potential of cannabidiol in the COVID‐19 pandemic / Esposito, Giuseppe; Pesce, Marcella; Seguella, Luisa; Sanseverino, Walter; Lu, Jie; Corpetti, Chiara; Sarnelli, Giovanni. - In: BRITISH JOURNAL OF PHARMACOLOGY. - ISSN 0007-1188. - (2020), pp. 1-4. [10.1111/bph.15157]
File in questo prodotto:
File Dimensione Formato  
bph.15157.pdf

accesso aperto

Tipologia: Documento in Post-print
Licenza: Creative commons
Dimensione 509.26 kB
Formato Adobe PDF
509.26 kB Adobe PDF Visualizza/Apri

I documenti in IRIS sono protetti da copyright e tutti i diritti sono riservati, salvo diversa indicazione.

Utilizza questo identificativo per citare o creare un link a questo documento: https://hdl.handle.net/11588/808361
Citazioni
  • ???jsp.display-item.citation.pmc??? ND
  • Scopus 76
  • ???jsp.display-item.citation.isi??? 70
social impact