CBD can kill bacteria responsible for several superbugs, research shows

Scientists have discovered a surprising new use of cannabis on the backfind that its main non-psychoactive component, scannabidiol ynthetic – better known as CBD – can kill the bacteria responsible for gonorrhea, meningitis and legionellosis.

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 Institute for Molecular Bioscience, says CBD can penetrate and kill a wide range of bacteria, including Neisseria gonorrhoeae, which causes gonorrhea.

Blaskovich said: “This is the first time that CBD has killed certain types of Gram-negative bacteria. These bacteria have an additional outer membrane, a defense this makes the penetration of antibiotics more difficult. “

The news could be mostly great for people in Australia, where gonorrhea is the second most common sexually transmitted infection.

According to IMB, it has become so common that there is no no longer a single reliable antibiotic to treat it, as the bacteria are particularly effective in developing resistance.

The research – who was recently published in the journal Communications Biology – also suggested that cannabidiol is effective in killing the superbug MRSA found in Staphylococcus aureus bacteria, and can be used to treat diabetic ulcers and wounds.

“Cannabidiol showed a low tendency to induce resistance in bacteria, even when we accelerated the potential development by increasing the concentrations of the antibiotic during ‘treatment’,” added Blaskovich.

“We believe cannabidiol kills bacteria by bursting their outer cell membranes, but we don’t know exactly how it does this yet, and we need to do more research.

Vince Ippolito, president and executive chairman of Botanix, said the researchshown huge potential for developing effective treatments for tackle the growing global threat of antibiotic resistance.

Ippolito said: “Congratulations to Dr Blaskovich and his team for producing this important body of research – published data clearly establishes the potential of synthetic cannabinoids as antimicrobials. “

Further trials of CBD formulations are currently underway, Blaskovich telling the Mail Mail: “We believe that we can design a different version of CBD that may have systemic activity.

“We want something that doesn’t break down in the body as quickly as CBD. There is certainly potential that CBD could be a prototypical representative of a new class of antibiotics.”