Antibiotic resistance currently poses a major threat to world-wide healthcare system , but a new study in the journalNature Communications Biologysuggests that a chemical compound found incannabismay provide a solution . fuck as cannabidiol ( CBD ) , the non - psychoactive cannabinoid was find to destruct numerous highly immune bacteria , admit those that cause gonorrhea , meningitis , and MRSA .
Bacteria fall into two broad family , known as gram - convinced and gram - negative . Previous research has show that CBD is efficient at destroying numerous type of gram - positive bacterium , although it had been assume that the compound would not work against gramme - negative species , as their stalwart kayoed membrane make them more difficult to drink down . This extra bed of shelter also renders many antibiotics ineffective against gramme - disconfirming bacteria .
To conduct their enquiry , the study author apply syntheticCBD – as well as a range of slightly neutered CBD analogs – to various sample of pig skin that had been infected with a range of different bacteria .
Results indicated that the cannabinoid is able-bodied to penetrate and stamp out a much wider ambit of gm - positive bacteria than previously guess . These admit antibiotic - repellent strains such as Methicillin - resistantStaphylococcus aureus(MRSA ) , which has try out difficult to care for in humans .
More significantly , however , CBD was also able-bodied to destroy a ambit of gram - electronegative bacteria , includingNeisseria gonorrhoeae , which cause gonorrhoea , andNeisseria meningitides , which is responsible formeningitis .
The World Health Organization ( WHO ) has designatedN. gonorrhoeaeas a high - precedency pathogen due to its increase resistor to existing antibiotic drug , top to fear that a “ super gonorrhea ” could be on the rise . The fact that CBD exhibit no propensity to hasten impedance is therefore highly hopeful and prompt the investigator to propose that a more efficacious treatment for certain extremely elusive pathogens may be on the apparent horizon .
“ We think that cannabidiol kill bacterium by bursting their taboo mobile phone tissue layer , but we do n’t be intimate yet on the dot how it does that , and postulate to do further research , ” explained cogitation authorMark Blaskovich , associate prof at the University of Queensland , in astatement .
However , while topical CBD establish enceinte promise , the compound was found to be ineffective when it was injected into mice that had been infected with various bacteria . This is due to the fact that the cannabinoid has a very high disposition to bind to compounds in blood plasma , and is therefore largely unavailable at the systemic layer to struggle off infections .
Fortunately , numerous CBD analogs turn up to be evenly potent at killing bacterium , leading to reincarnate hope that it may be potential to make a somewhat altered version of the compound with increased systemic availability .
“ This is particularly exciting because there have been no new molecular classes of antibiotics for Gram - electronegative contagion discovered and approve since the 1960s , and we can now weigh design new analog of CBD within improved attribute , ” explained Blaskovich .
On a relate greenback , a separate study recently showed thattreating strawberries with CBDincreases their ledge - life by inhibiting the growth of stamp and barm , further highlighting the chemical compound ’s antimicrobic potential .
