Antiviral Activity of Cannabidiolic Acid and Its Methyl Ester against SARS-CoV-2

Martina Tamburello; Stefano Salamone; Lisa Anceschi; Paolo Governa; Virginia Brighenti; Alice Morellini; Giada Rossini; Fabrizio Manetti; Giorgio Gallinella; Federica Pollastro; Federica Pellati

doi:10.1021/acs.jnatprod.3c00111

Antiviral Activity of Cannabidiolic Acid and Its Methyl Ester against SARS-CoV-2

Martina Tamburello, Stefano Salamone, Lisa Anceschi, Paolo Governa, Virginia Brighenti, Alice Morellini, Giada Rossini, Fabrizio Manetti, Giorgio Gallinella, Federica Pollastro, Federica Pellati

Department of Pharmaceutical Sciences

Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review

Abstract

In the present study, the antiviral activity of cannabinoids isolated from Cannabis sativa L. was assessed in vitro against a panel of SARS-CoV-2 variants, indicating cannabidiolic acid (CBDA) was the most active. To overcome the instability issue of CBDA, its methyl ester was synthesized and tested for the first time for its antiviral activity. CBDA methyl ester showed a neutralizing effect on all the SARS-CoV-2 variants tested with greater activity than the parent compound. Its stability in vitro was confirmed by ultra-high-performance liquid chromatography (UHPLC) analysis coupled with high-resolution mass spectrometry (HRMS). In addition, the capacity of both CBDA and its derivative to interact with the virus spike protein was assessed in silico. These results showed that CBDA methyl ester can be considered as a lead compound to be further developed as a new effective drug against COVID-19 infection.

Original language	English
Pages (from-to)	1698-1707
Number of pages	10
Journal	Journal of Natural Products
Volume	86
Issue number	7
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1021/acs.jnatprod.3c00111
Publication status	Published - 28 Jul 2023

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title = "Antiviral Activity of Cannabidiolic Acid and Its Methyl Ester against SARS-CoV-2",

abstract = "In the present study, the antiviral activity of cannabinoids isolated from Cannabis sativa L. was assessed in vitro against a panel of SARS-CoV-2 variants, indicating cannabidiolic acid (CBDA) was the most active. To overcome the instability issue of CBDA, its methyl ester was synthesized and tested for the first time for its antiviral activity. CBDA methyl ester showed a neutralizing effect on all the SARS-CoV-2 variants tested with greater activity than the parent compound. Its stability in vitro was confirmed by ultra-high-performance liquid chromatography (UHPLC) analysis coupled with high-resolution mass spectrometry (HRMS). In addition, the capacity of both CBDA and its derivative to interact with the virus spike protein was assessed in silico. These results showed that CBDA methyl ester can be considered as a lead compound to be further developed as a new effective drug against COVID-19 infection.",

author = "Martina Tamburello and Stefano Salamone and Lisa Anceschi and Paolo Governa and Virginia Brighenti and Alice Morellini and Giada Rossini and Fabrizio Manetti and Giorgio Gallinella and Federica Pollastro and Federica Pellati",

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AU - Tamburello, Martina

AU - Salamone, Stefano

AU - Anceschi, Lisa

AU - Governa, Paolo

AU - Brighenti, Virginia

AU - Morellini, Alice

AU - Rossini, Giada

AU - Manetti, Fabrizio

AU - Gallinella, Giorgio

AU - Pollastro, Federica

AU - Pellati, Federica

PY - 2023/7/28

Y1 - 2023/7/28

N2 - In the present study, the antiviral activity of cannabinoids isolated from Cannabis sativa L. was assessed in vitro against a panel of SARS-CoV-2 variants, indicating cannabidiolic acid (CBDA) was the most active. To overcome the instability issue of CBDA, its methyl ester was synthesized and tested for the first time for its antiviral activity. CBDA methyl ester showed a neutralizing effect on all the SARS-CoV-2 variants tested with greater activity than the parent compound. Its stability in vitro was confirmed by ultra-high-performance liquid chromatography (UHPLC) analysis coupled with high-resolution mass spectrometry (HRMS). In addition, the capacity of both CBDA and its derivative to interact with the virus spike protein was assessed in silico. These results showed that CBDA methyl ester can be considered as a lead compound to be further developed as a new effective drug against COVID-19 infection.

AB - In the present study, the antiviral activity of cannabinoids isolated from Cannabis sativa L. was assessed in vitro against a panel of SARS-CoV-2 variants, indicating cannabidiolic acid (CBDA) was the most active. To overcome the instability issue of CBDA, its methyl ester was synthesized and tested for the first time for its antiviral activity. CBDA methyl ester showed a neutralizing effect on all the SARS-CoV-2 variants tested with greater activity than the parent compound. Its stability in vitro was confirmed by ultra-high-performance liquid chromatography (UHPLC) analysis coupled with high-resolution mass spectrometry (HRMS). In addition, the capacity of both CBDA and its derivative to interact with the virus spike protein was assessed in silico. These results showed that CBDA methyl ester can be considered as a lead compound to be further developed as a new effective drug against COVID-19 infection.

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JO - Journal of Natural Products

JF - Journal of Natural Products

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ER -

Antiviral Activity of Cannabidiolic Acid and Its Methyl Ester against SARS-CoV-2

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