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CBD News Roundup: Study Will Examine CBD’s Treatment Potential for COVID-19-Induced Respiratory Failure

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Written by The CBD Insider

Here’s the latest CBD news:

  • Israeli research groups STERO Biotechs and Mor Research Applications will soon conduct a trial testing a CBD treatment for COVID-19 respiratory symptoms.
  • A recent study found that CBD can help the (mouse) brain restore dopamine levels to alleviate acute cocaine withdrawal symptoms.
  • Medication-resistant epilepsy in children responds positively to cannabidiol gel treatment in a 26-week trial.
  • A Czech CBD company has been approved to sell CBD suppositories throughout Europe as medical devices. 

Study Will Examine CBD’s Treatment Potential for COVID-19-Induced Respiratory Failure 

An Israeli company focused on CBD-based research, STERO Biotechs Ltd., announced on Tuesday, January 5 that they will support a clinical trial examining the effects of CBD-based products on severe COVID-19 symptoms.

The trial is to be run by Mor Research Applications, the Technology Transfer Office of Israel’s largest HMO (Clalit Health Services).

According to STERO, cannabidiol-based treatments have already been shown “to possess potent immuno-modulatory and anti-inflammatory properties in various indications.”

Specifically, it is cannabidiol’s ability to bolster steroid potency—a discovery made in a previous trial supported by STERO—that has these research groups and regulating bodies interested in CBD as a treatment for patients with COVID-related acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS), a problem that can cause respiratory failure. 

STERO will provide the CBD treatment for this investigative trial, which will follow a 14-28 day treatment plan.

If the treatment proves to be effective at mitigating ARDS in COVID-19 (alongside steroid-based medications), STERO intends to move forward with larger studies in hopes of developing their treatment in time to help eligible COVID-19 patients.

New Study Confirms CBD Benefits for Cocaine Withdrawal

Cannabidiol may be more than just a calming agent for chronic cocaine users experiencing withdrawal, explained a recent study from Miguel Hernandez University in Alicante, Spain. 

In the study, cocaine-addicted mice in a state of “spontaneous cocaine withdrawal” (experimenters administered cocaine for 12 days and then stopped) were assessed for changes in “motor activity, somatic signs, and anxiety-like behavior.”

Then, CBD was introduced in 10, 20, or 40mg/kg doses, after which experimenters made the same assessments.

The researchers concluded that CBD helped both with motor and somatic symptoms associated with withdrawal, but even more saliently, CBD facilitated a return to normal gene expression of dopamine markers.

In other words, the introduction of cannabidiol helped the brain to make up for the sudden absence of cocaine by “rebooting” its synthesis and transport of dopamine, two functions that didn’t have to work nearly as hard when cocaine was available.

The finding carries glaring implications for the future of CBD-centered withdrawal treatment, but more research is needed to further validate potency and safety. 

Transdermal CBD Gel Effectively Reduces Seizure Frequency in Children With Developmental and Epileptic Encephalopathies (DEE)

The successful results of a trial assessing the treatment potential of CBD on children with developmental and epileptic encephalopathies (DEE) were recently announced in the American Epilepsy Society’s virtual annual meeting.

These disorders are particularly troubling not only in their severity, but in their resistance to medication, which is why clinicians are making their way through a long roster of potentially therapeutic alternatives like CBD.

In the BELIEVE trial, DEE patients ranging from 3-18 years of age were administered weight-adjusted doses of transdermal CBD gel over a 26-week treatment period, during which the treatment was assessed for safety and seizure frequency reduction capability.

The transdermal gel reduced seizure frequency in a 33-patient subset of tonic-clonic seizure sufferers by 58%, and though 60% of participants reported adverse events, they were mild in nature (dryness/soreness at application site).

The researchers noted in their conclusion that the treatment was determined to have a “positive benefit-risk profile,” calling for more studies to further explore the treatment’s potential.

CB21 Pharma Is the First Company Approved to Sell CBD-Based Medical Suppositories

They aren’t the first to develop or sell CBD suppositories, but Czech CBD brand CB21 Pharma is the first company to ever achieve full certification for medical use of a CBD suppository.

Now that they’re certified by 3EC International, the Czech regulatory body that assesses pharmaceutical products for safety and efficacy, CB21 Pharma can sell their CBD suppositories throughout Europe and market them for specific conditions.

Speaking of, CB21 Pharma is touting their newly approved suppositories as beneficial for recently postpartum mothers, hemorrhoid sufferers, and a variety of other demographics.

The manufacturer has built most of their product selection to date around CBD-based cosmetics, but ownership believes the move into medicinal products to be a prudent one, given the explosive popularity and increasingly exposed therapeutic potential of CBD. 


1 Comment

  • Avatar for Dan White Dan White says:

    COVID-19 is no joke. There are already many people who died because of this pandemic. There were few available vaccines for protection; however, no exact cure or medication has been proven effective in dealing with COVID-19 yet. It’s good reading articles like this because we can see that researchers and experts are doing something to find a cure and fight this pandemic.

    – Dan White

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