Researchers in Australia have found that the cannabis compound cannabidiol, more commonly known as CBD, could one day be used as an antibiotic. They discovered that it is remarkably effective at killing a wide range of bacteria, including bacteria that have become resistant to other common antibiotics.
The research was presented at the American Society for Microbiology’s annual meeting, which took place last month in San Francisco. Dr. Mark Blaskovich, one of the researchers from the Institute for Molecular Bioscience at the University of Queensland, said that studies showed CBD worked in animal models as a topical treatment or possibly on bacteria on the skin before surgery. He told the Daily News:
“In terms of resistance, that’s one of the exciting things we have found — unlike other common Gram-positive antibiotics like vancomycin or daptomycin, we found cannabidiol has a very low propensity to induce resistance, which hopefully means it would be safe to use without causing resistance to rapidly appear.”1
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CBD was effective against every Gram-positive bacteria that was tested. However, according to the American College of Healthcare Sciences, the study revealed it would not work against Gram-negative bacteria because even though it has a thin cell membrane, it is not easy to penetrate, making it more difficult for antibiotic treatment.
Dr. Andrew Edwards, a non-clinical Lecturer in Molecular Microbiology at Imperial College London who was not involved in the research, reiterated that CBD might not work as an antibiotic for those bacteria, telling Newsweek:
“It is not effective against Gram-negative bacteria, which are especially difficult to develop new antibiotics for because they have a very selective outer-membrane that prevents most drugs from entering the bacterial cell.”1
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Besides antibiotic treatment, Blaskovich said CBD could come with other benefits, saying:
“The other potentially exciting thing about treating infections with cannabidiol is that its known anti-inflammatory effects could help treat the inflammation that accompanies infection at the same time as killing the bacteria. We’re looking to see if this helps infection wounds heal faster.” further studies are needed, but CBD could also oneday be used in a pill form against internal infections.”1
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Further studies are needed, and Blaskovich advised people to continue using approved medicine until more research is done, stating:
“This is still early stage research in the lab – we don’t want people self medicating with CBD oil for infections – see a doctor and take antibiotics!”1
Blaskovich indicated that because CBD already has approval as a drug in medications to treat seizures, the regulatory pathway to gain approval “should be much shorter than normal for a new antibiotic.”
The company that funded the study is Botanix. Their goal is to begin a Phase 1 or 2 trial by the end of this year. According to the FDA:
Phase 1 trials last several months, and usually include 20 to 100 participants who are healthy, or have a disease or condition to evaluate safety and dosage of a drug. Phase 2 trials include up to several hundred people with a condition or disease to determine the efficacy and side effects of a medication. These studies last several months to two years.1
This up-and-coming research is more proof of the unlimited potential that exists with CBD.
