Department of Clinical Pharmacology and Medicine, College of Medicine, Al-Mustansiriyiah University, Baghdad, Iraq.
Department of Science and Engineering, Novel Global Community Educational Foundation, Hebersham, Australia.
Curr Med Chem. 2023;30(34):3832-3845. doi: 10.2174/0929867329666220829145029.
COVID-19 is caused by SARS-CoV-2 and leads to acute lung injury (ALI), acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS), and extrapulmonary manifestations in severely affected cases. However, most of the affected cases are mild or asymptomatic. Cannabinoids (CBs) such as tetrahydrocannabinol (THC) and cannabidiol (CBD), which act on G-protein-coupled receptors called CB1 and CB2, have anti-inflammatory effects. Many published studies show that CBs are effective in various inflammatory disorders, viral infections, and attenuation of ALI and ARDS. Therefore, the present narrative review aimed to summarize the possible immunological role of CBs in COVID-19. The effects of CBs are controversial, although they have beneficial effects via CB2 receptors and adverse effects via CB1 receptors against ALI, ARDS, and hyperinflammation, which are hallmarks of COVID-19. The present narrative review has shown that CBs effectively manage ALI and ARDS by suppressing pro-inflammatory cytokines, which are common in COVID-19. Therefore, CBs may be used to manage COVID-19 because of their potent anti-inflammatory effects, suppressing pro-inflammatory cytokines and inhibiting inflammatory signaling pathways.
新型冠状病毒病（COVID-19）由严重急性呼吸综合征冠状病毒 2（SARS-CoV-2）引起，在重症病例中可导致急性肺损伤（ALI）、急性呼吸窘迫综合征（ARDS）和肺外表现。然而，大多数受影响的病例为轻症或无症状。大麻素（CBs），如四氢大麻酚（THC）和大麻二酚（CBD），通过作用于被称为 CB1 和 CB2 的 G 蛋白偶联受体，具有抗炎作用。许多已发表的研究表明，CBs 对各种炎症性疾病、病毒感染以及 ALI 和 ARDS 的减轻均具有疗效。因此，本叙述性综述旨在总结 CBs 在 COVID-19 中的可能免疫作用。尽管 CBs 通过 CB2 受体具有有益作用，通过 CB1 受体具有不利作用，但 ALI、ARDS 和过度炎症是 COVID-19 的特征，因此 CBs 的作用仍存在争议。本叙述性综述表明，CBs 通过抑制常见于 COVID-19 的促炎细胞因子，有效治疗 ALI 和 ARDS。因此，由于其强大的抗炎作用，CBs 可能被用于治疗 COVID-19，抑制促炎细胞因子并抑制炎症信号通路。
