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Cannabis use potentially reduces inflammation, immune activation in patients with HIV
A recent study determined an association between heavy cannabis use and a potentially beneficial reduction in systemic inflammation and immune activation in patients with HIV.
Nichole R. Klatt, PhD , assistant professor in the department of pharmaceutics at the University of Washington School of Pharmacy, and colleagues said that “despite long-term, consistent ART, HIV-infected individuals have a higher risk of developing non-AIDS comorbidities.”
Chronic immune activation and inflammation, which persist during treatment with ART, is linked to increased morbidity and mortality in HIV-infected individuals, they added.
Klatt and colleagues assessed the impact of cannabis use on peripheral immune cell frequency, activation and function in 198 HIV-infected patients on ART. Patients were categorized as “heavy, medium or occasional users or noncannibis users” based on the amount of the cannabis metabolite 11-nor-carboxy-tetrahydrocannabinol (THC-COOH) that was detected in plasma by mass spectrometry.
The researchers found decreased frequencies of HLA-DR+CD38+CD4+ and CD8+ T-cell frequencies in heavy cannabis users compared with noncannabis users. Klatt and colleagues also found decreased frequencies of intermediate and nonclassical monocyte subsets, interleukin 23- and tumor necrosis factor-alpha-producing antigen-presenting cells in heavy cannabis users.
The study results suggest ART-treated patients with HIV may experience a potential reduction in immune activation and inflammation with heavy cannabis use. Though the clinical implications are unclear, “cannabinoids may have an immunological benefit, and nonpsychoactive cannabis derivatives could be investigated as novel therapeutics to be used in conjunction with ART to aid in reduction of persistent inflammation,” Klatt and colleagues said. – by Marley Ghizzone
Disclosures: Klatt reports no relevant financial disclosures. Please see the study for all other authors’ relevant financial disclosures.