of ARDS by giving a synthetic analogue of double-stranded RNA called POLY (I:C). The novel coronavirus also has double-stranded RNA, while human DNA is single-stranded. The model produced a response similar to the virus, including the extreme lung damage and the “cytokine storm” that reflects an over-the-top immune response in the lungs.
For these studies, a control group received intranasal saline for three consecutive days while the COVID-19 model received POLY (I:C) intranasally for three days. A third group, the treatment group, received POLY (I:C) and CBD over the same timeframe. The researchers found significantly reduced apelin levels in the mice that developed COVID-like symptoms compared to controls, and treatment with CBD normalised the immune response and apelin levels, along with oxygen levels, swelling, and scarring in the lungs.
“The apelinergic system is a very, very ubiquitous signalling system,” Yu says. The authors note that apelin has diverse jobs in different places and that its levels are consistently measurable in the lungs, one of the reasons it should be a good biomarker.
They add that CBD appears to be a natural apelin agonist.