A new step in the fight against global antibiotic resistance. Danish researchers show that CBD makes existing antibiotics much more powerful.
One of the bigger health problems of our time is that bacteria are becoming resistant to antibiotics. Help comes from an unexpected source. More and more scientists are showing that cannabis contains a powerful antibiotic. Danish research shows that CBD can serve as a tool to make antibiotics much more powerful.
Anti-bacterial effect of cannabis
Antibiotics are medications that help cure infections caused by bacteria. They kill the bacteria or inhibit their growth. But humanity is facing a huge problem: more and more bacteria no longer care about antibiotics. They become resistant, for example because we use it far too massively.
Scientists worldwide are therefore feverishly looking for new forms of antibiotics that still work. During that search, an unexpected candidate presents itself: cannabis. Various components in the cannabis plant remain perfectly capable of killing antibiotic-resistant bacteria.
Good news from Denmark
Various studies have been conducted worldwide into the anti-bacterial properties of cannabis. In the spring of 2020, Denmark arrived on the scene. Scientists from the University of Southern Denmark then shared their findings about using CBD in the fight against antibiotic-resistant bacteria.
In the Danish study, CBD was used as an 'auxiliary compound' to enhance the effect of the antibiotic 'bacitracin' in a staph infection. The well-known hospital bacterium MRAS is also a staphylococcus. The infection causes health problems and often leads to hospital admissions.
“When we combined antibiotics and CBD we saw a more powerful effect than when we used antibiotics alone. So we needed fewer antibiotics to kill a certain number of bacteria,” according to Scientific Reports.
Conclusion? “Cannabidiol is an effective ancillary compound in combination with bacitracin to kill gram-positive cocci.”
The researchers saw that CBD can help ensure that Staphylococcus aureus – a staphylococcus bacterium – could no longer divide. The strength of key genes in the bacteria was reduced and their membrane became unstable. This led to fewer antibiotics required for treatment.
Janne Kudsk Klitgaard, one of the scientists involved, says that combining antibiotics with adjuvants such as CBD could lead to less overall antibiotic use, which in turn could “contribute to the development of less resistant bacteria.”
Good news from Denmark that will hopefully soon lead to new research, clinical tests and ultimately a cannabis-based antibiotic.
