Scientists have discovered a surprising new use for cannabis in the sterner finding this its main non-psychoactive component, sintetic cannabidiol – better known as CBD – I can kill the bacteria responsible for gonorrhea, meningitis and legionnaire’s disease.
The research, which was a collaboration between IMB’s Center for Superbug Solutions and Botanix Pharmaceuticals Limited, could lead to the first new class of antibiotics for resistant bacteria in 60 years.
Dr. Mark Blaskovich, Director of the Molecular Bioscience Institute, said CBD can penetrate and kill a wide range of bacteria including Neisseria gonorrhoeae, what cause gonorrhea.
Blaskovich said: “This is the first time that CBD has been shown to kill some types of Gram-negative bacteria. These bacteria have an extra outer membrane, an additional line of defense this makes it harder for antibiotics to penetrate. “
The news can be especially great for people in Australia where gonorrhea it is the second most common sexually transmitted infection.
According to the IMB, it has become so common that there is no plus a single reliable antibiotic to treat it, as the bacteria is particularly good at developing resistance.
The research – which was recently published in the journal Communications Biology – also suggested that cannabidiol is effective in killing the superbug MRSA found in staph bacteria and can be used to treat diabetic ulcers and wounds.
10 hours ago“Cannabidiol showed a low tendency to cause resistance in bacteria, even when we accelerate potential development by increasing the concentrations of the antibiotic during ‘treatment’,” added Blaskovich.
“We think cannabidiol kills bacteria by bursting its outer cell membranes, but we still don’t know exactly how it does it and we need to do more research.”
Vince Ippolito, the president and executive president of Botanix, said the researchshowed huge potential for developing effective treatments for face the growing global threat of antibiotic resistance.
Ippolito said: “Congratulations to Dr. Blaskovich and his team for producing this significant body of research – published data clearly establish the potential of synthetic cannabinoids as antimicrobials. “
Further testing of CBD formulations is underway, with Blaskovich telling the Courier Mail: “We think we can design a different version of the CBD that will be able to have some systemic activity.
“We want something that doesn’t break down in the body as quickly as CBD. There is definitely potential for CBD to be a prototypical representative of a new class of antibiotics. ”