Qld researchers on how cannabis could be used to fight superbug
A left-field remedy normally associated with pain relief is being tapped by Queensland researchers as a possible superbug killer.
QLD News
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Queensland researchers are studying a component of medicinal cannabis for its potential as a new antibiotic, capable of killing superbugs.
The big hope for scientists at the University of Queensland’s Institute for Molecular Bioscience is that synthetic cannabidiol, or CBD, the main non-psychoactive component of cannabis, could be developed into the first new class of antibiotics for drug-resistant bacteria in more than half a century.
The quest for new antibiotics is seen as crucial by infectious disease experts, with predictions that by 2050, drug-resistant infections could result in 10 million deaths a year unless alternate treatments are found.
UQ’s Mark Blaskovich, director of IMB’s Centre for Superbug Solutions, said studies in the test tube had shown CBD could penetrate and kill drug-resistant bacteria responsible for gonorrhoea and Legionnaires’ disease.
Dr Blaskovich said laboratory experiments had also found CBD was effective against methicillin-resistant staphylococcus aureus, known as Golden Staph, which frequently caused problems in hospitals.
Working in collaboration with Botanix Pharmaceuticals Limited, he said their research suggested the use of CBD did not result in Golden Staph becoming more drug resistant.
And he said studies of wounds in mice, contaminated with bacteria, showed CBD gel acted to reduce the infection.
A trial of a CBD formulation is already underway to determine whether it can kill Golden Staph bacteria, when applied as a gel inside the nose, to reduce the risk of infection after surgery.
But Dr Blaskovich said the researchers had found that CBD, when taken orally, failed to clear systemic bacterial infections throughout the body.
He said UQ scientists were working with Botanix on modifying the structure of the compound in the hope they could create oral forms of CBD that would work effectively as antibiotic treatments for drug-resistant bacterial diseases, such as gonorrhoea, Legionnaires disease and meningitis.
“We think we can engineer a different version of CBD that will be able to have some systemic activity,” Dr Blaskovich said.
“We want something that doesn’t break down in the body as quickly as CBD does. There’s definitely potential there that CBD could be a prototypical representative of a new class of antibiotics.”
Further work is necessary to discover exactly how CBD kills bacteria.
That would potentially allow the scientists to modify CBD into a more potent antibiotic that may be able to be taken orally.
Even if that proves impossible, Dr Blaskovich said CBD applied to the skin held promise for the treatment of infected diabetic ulcers and wounds.
But he warned: “We certainly do not recommend that people self-apply CBD oil to treat their own infections. Chances are it’s not going to work. The type of gel or cream that you use to apply it makes a huge difference over whether it works at killing bacteria or not.”
Dr Blaskovich admitted it could take years before new versions of CBD formed the basis of a new class of antibiotics, if at all.
“It’s a … 10-to-15-year pipeline from your initial identification of a new small molecule towards getting an approved drug,” Dr Blaskovich said.
“That’s why if we don’t start doing something now, by the time antimicrobial resistance becomes something that’s killing millions and millions of people, it’s almost too late to be doing anything because it’s going to be another 10 years before you have a solution.
“However … given CBD’s known safety profile, this presents potential for an expedited opportunity.”
The research is published in the journal, Communications Biology.
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