Recent laboratory research indicates that compounds derived from the cannabis plant, specifically cannabidiol (CBD) and cannabidivarin (CBDV), exhibit antifungal properties against Cryptococcus neoformans, a WHO-listed priority fungal pathogen responsible for severe infections like cryptococcal meningitis. In vitro studies have shown that these cannabinoids can inhibit the growth of this pathogen, suggesting potential avenues for developing new antifungal treatments.
According to a media release by Macquarie University, the compounds also killed dermatophytes that cause common skin infections, and much faster than existing treatments.
The study's findings pave the way for potential new treatments for fungal infections. Published in The Journal of Neglected Tropical Diseases (PLOS NTDs), the research offers promising prospects for addressing these infections.
Fungal infections affect more than one billion people around the world each year, according to data from the Centres for Disease Control and Prevention. Whether it's athlete's foot, a yeast infection, or the potentially deadly lung infection pneumocystis pneumonia, fungal pathogens are a serious health threat with relatively few effective treatments.
Macquarie University's Dr Hue Dinh, a postdoctoral research fellow in the School of Natural Science, and Associate Professor Amy Cain resolved to tackle the growing threat of fungal infections with help from Professor Mark Connor and Dr Marina Junqueira Santiago from the Macquarie School of Medicine and collaborators at the Universities of Sydney and NSW.
Having worked in the field of antimicrobial resistance, Dr Hue Dinh knew that developing an entirely new drug and getting it to market could take decades. It made more sense to work with pharmacological compounds already approved for use in humans for other conditions because their safety and mechanism of action are already well known.
Cannabis connection
Dr Dinh says one of the challenges in the research project was deciding which cannabinoids to test and against what.
"Hundreds of natural compounds can be extracted from the cannabis plant, and we don't know which ones work," says Dr Dinh.
Macquarie Medical School pharmacologist Professor Mark Connor, who has a strong background in researching cannabinoids, joined the team in their quest to target the fungal pathogen Cryptococcus neoformans, which causes deadly lung or brain infections.
"When Cryptococcus neoformans gets to your central nervous system, it causes life-threatening meningitis. The mortality rate is very high, and it's really hard to treat," says Dr Dinh.
The researchers found two cannabinoids - cannabidiol and cannabidivarin - that both quickly killed Cryptococcus neoformans in the laboratory, working even faster than current antifungal therapy.
They tested the compounds against 33 other fungal pathogens from clinical, veterinary and environmental settings. This revealed the cannabinoids were effective in killing a range of Cryptococcus species as well as the fungal skin pathogens that cause athlete's foot.
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