Like Δ9-tetrahydrocannabinol (Δ9-THC), the most well-studied cannabinoid, CBD decreased lung inflammation in a murine model of acute lung injury potentially through the inhibition of proinflammatory cytokine production by immune cells and suppressing exuberant immune responses (Ribeiro et al., 2015). CBD can inhibit the production of proinflammatory cytokines like interleukin (IL)-2, IL-6, IL-1α and β, interferon gamma, inducible protein-10, monocyte chemoattractant protein-1, macrophage inflammatory protein-1α, and tumor necrosis factor-α (Nichols and Kaplan, 2020) (Fig. 1 ) that have been associated with SARS-CoV2 induced multi-organ pathology and mortality. In a murine model of chronic asthma, CBD reduced proinflammatory cytokine production, airway inflammation and fibrosis (Vuolo et al., 2019). Moreover, CBD can effectively inhibit the JAK-STAT pathway including the production and action of type I interferons without leading to addiction, alterations in heart rate or blood pressure and adverse effects on the gastrointestinal tract and cognition (Nichols and Kaplan, 2020). In simian immunodeficiency virus (SIV)-infected rhesus macaques (RMs), we reported THC mediated attenuation of IFN stimulated gene expression in the intestine (Kumar et al., 2019). Similar to CBD, chronic THC administration blocked inflammation induced fibrosis in lymph nodes of chronically SIV-infected RMs (Kumar et al., 2019). Unlike THC, CBD has a high margin of safety and is well tolerated pharmacologically even after treatments of up to 1500 mg/day for two weeks in both animals and humans (Nichols and Kaplan, 2020), which suggests its feasibility to reduce SARS-CoV2 induced lung inflammation/pathology and disease severity.
Siddappa N Byrareddy and Mahesh Mohan Published online 2020 Apr 28. doi:10.1016/j.bbi.2020.04.079
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