Babak Baban: “CBD can help various respiratory and inflammatory diseases and potentially Covid-19”

What future is there for CBD in the treatment of Covid-19? The Cannareporter spoke to Babak Baban, Professor and Associate Dean of Research in the Department of Neurology and Surgery at The Medical College of Georgia, Georgia University of Augusta, in the United States of America (USA), to better understand the contours of their investigation. 

Babak Baban led the team that, in September 2020, published a promising study in the newspaper"Cannabis and Cannabinoids Research“. The authors note in the study that “the results suggest a potential protective role of CBD during acute respiratory distress syndrome that may extend CBD as part of the treatment of COVID-19, reducing the cytokine storm, protecting lung tissues and restoring the inflammatory homeostasis”.

With a Ph.D. completed at the University of London, UK, Babak Baban also published another study, in the Journal of Cellular and Molecular Medicine, where he reports that CBD treatment was able to revert the symptoms of ARDS (Acute Respiratory Distress Syndrome) to a normal level. And guarantees that there will be more news in two weeks.

His team of researchers has published at least two studies that demonstrate the positive effects of CBD on Covid-19. What were the main results of your research? 
Our findings suggested that CBD has the potential to regulate excessive inflammatory responses in an experimental model of ARDS and restore the immune system balance that is essential for our daily function and health. Furthermore, CBD administration prevented further damage to lung tissues and reversed the damage towards healthy lung structure. More importantly, CBD was able to normalize the frequencies (numbers) of immune cells in the blood and their oxygen level.

How can your studies contribute to changing the future of this pandemic situation?
Well, the future of this pandemic is very complex, beyond the power of CBD alone. However, these small initial discoveries are very encouraging and positive steps. If further investigations and studies can help us to better understand the mechanism of CBD in inflammatory models, then CBD could be a very good potential alternative and complementary agent to be used immunotherapeutically. CBD may also be able to help various respiratory and inflammatory diseases, including ARDS, and potentially Covid-19 or other infectious respiratory diseases.

Babak Baban and his team of researchers at Augusta University, Georgia, USA. Photo: The Augusta Chronicle

What kind of CBD did you use in your study?
We used isolated CBD, without THC or any other cannabinoids, so pure CBD.

If the positive effects of CBD are confirmed, how can this treatment be applied in practice to patients with Covid-19, both in the US and in the rest of the world?
If more studies and clinical trials confirm the beneficial effects, as we have reported, improving ARDS symptoms would be a significant help for Covid-19 or other potential respiratory infections. This is because ARDS and excessive inflammation (cytokine storm) are the leading causes of fatality in Covid-19.

What other studies or investigations in this area deserve the attention of the Media and how can they represent new methods of treatment in this pandemic?
We had follow-up studies where we showed that the beneficial effects of CBD in the ARDS model were associated with an increased level of a bioprotein called “Apelin”, which has a crucial role in establishing immune balance and regulating excessive inflammatory responses and modulating it. of normal vascular function.*

What other cannabis-related research or areas of interest are you considering in your research department?
We have very exciting results, we have been accepted for publication in other disease models and we will be happy to share this with you in about two weeks.

*Cannabidiol (CBD) from apelin in acute respiratory distress syndrome
Salles EL, Khodadadi H, Jarrahi A, Ahluwalia M, Paffaro VA Jr, Costigliola V, Yu JC, Hess DC, Dhandapani KM, Baban B., J Cell Mol Med. Nov 2020; 24 (21): 12869-12872.)