The researchers looked at cannabinoids - a group of substances found in the cannabis plant - and their major metabolites found in cannabis users’ blood and found that they interfere with two families of enzymes that help metabolize a wide range of drugs prescribed for a variety of conditions.
A new response to the rapidly mutating virus might be found right at the door to our lungs, says Yale's Akiko Iwasaki, the Waldemar Von Zedtwitz Professor of Immunobiology.
Professor Jody Mason, who led the research from the Department of Biology and Biochemistry at Bath, said:
Researchers in Japan and the United States have found SARS-CoV-2 can knock out an important molecular pathway linked to an immune complex called MHC class I. The finding should help scientists better understand how COVID-19 infection takes hold.
This test could potentially tell doctors how protected a patient is from new variants and those currently circulating in a community or, conversely, which monoclonal antibodies to treat a COVID-19 patient.