International forskning

Impact of cannabis use on immune cell populations and the viral reservoir in people with HIV on suppressive antiretroviral therapy


Shane D Falcinelli 1 2 3, Alicia D Cooper-Volkheimer 4, Lesia Semenova 5, Ethan Wu 5, Alexander Richardson 5, Manickam Ashokkumar 1 3, David M Margolis 1 2 3, Nancie M Archin 1 3, Cynthia D Rudin 5, David Murdoch 4, Edward P Browne 1 2 3

  • 1Department of Medicine, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Chapel Hill, North Carolina, United States of America.
  • 2Department of Microbiology and Immunology, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Chapel Hill, North Carolina, United States of America.
  • 3HIV Cure Center, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Chapel Hill, North Carolina, United States of America.
  • 4Department of Medicine, Duke University, Durham, North Carolina, United States of America.
  • 5Department of Computer Science, Duke University, Durham, North Carolina, United States of America.

Affiliationer

Background: HIV infection remains incurable due to the persistence of a viral reservoir despite antiretroviral therapy (ART). Cannabis (CB) use is prevalent amongst people with HIV (PWH), but the impact of CB on the latent HIV reservoir has not been investigated.

Methods: Peripheral blood cells from a cohort of PWH who use CB and a matched cohort of PWH who do not use CB on ART were evaluated for expression of maturation/activation markers, HIV-specific T cell responses, and intact proviral DNA.

Results: CB use was associated with increased abundance of naïve T cells, reduced effector T cells, and reduced expression of activation markers. CB use was also associated with reduced levels of exhausted and senescent T cells compared to non-using controls. HIV-specific T cell responses were unaffected by CB use. CB use was not associated with intact or total HIV DNA frequency in CD4 T cells.

Conclusions: This analysis is consistent with the hypothesis that CB use reduces activation, exhaustion and senescence in the T cells of PWH, and does not impair HIV-specific CD8 T cell responses. Longitudinal and interventional studies with evaluation of CB exposure are needed to fully evaluate the impact of CB use on the HIV reservoir.