They are trying to prove the effectiveness of cannabis extract
The long-awaited study is finally here: Cannabinoid acids found in cannabis have been shown to be effective against SARS-CoV-2. This is stated in a recently published scientific article by researchers from the American Chemical Society (American Chemical Society) and the American Society of Pharmacology (American Society of Pharmacognosy).
Scientists conducted a laboratory screening of plant extracts, including hemp extracts. And they came to the conclusion that cannabinoid acids from hemp (Cannabis sativa) are capable of neutralizing the SARS-CoV-2 virus. In subsequent virus neutralization assays, these acids prevented human epithelial cells from being infected by a pseudovirus expressing the SARS-CoV-2 spike protein and prevented live SARS-CoV-2 from entering the cells.
Importantly, cannabigerolic acid and cannabidiolic acid were equally effective against SARS-CoV-2 alpha variant B.1.1.7 and beta variant B.1.351. Being orally bioavailable and having a long history of safe use in humans, these cannabinoids isolated or contained in cannabis extracts have the potential to prevent as well as treat SARS-CoV-2 infection, the researchers concluded.
Drugs have been used in medicine for a long time. Thus, opioids have long been used as an anesthetic in cancer patients (in recent years, they have begun to be abandoned).
The study has already raised questions: Do people who use marijuana get sick with the new coronavirus infection? However, answers to such versions have already been voiced in a number of publications in the world: drug addicts get sick with COVID-19, and quite often in severe form.
By the way, not so long ago, a study by American scientists came out that put forward a version of the effectiveness against SARS-CoV-2 of a rather old drug that is used in the treatment of alcoholism – disulfiram. And last summer, a group of chemists from the National Research University Higher School of Economics and the Institute of Organic Chemistry. N.D. Zelinsky of the Russian Academy of Sciences argued its prospects in the fight against coronavirus using molecular modeling. The work of Russian scientists was published on the sciencedirect website. Scientists note that computer modeling for the purpose of drug research has become one of the main ways to understand whether a particular drug on the market can suppress the activity of coronavirus in the body.
See also: “The expert predicted the future of coronavirus: what strains to expect”
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