A recent study found that a compound in cannabis may help mitigate the side effects of HIV treatments. The tests could lead to quality-of-life improvements for people infected with the virus.
Researchers at the Texas Biomedical Research Institute found that low doses of tetrahydrocannabinol (THC) can mitigate HIV symptoms and the treatment for the disease. According to a recent study published in Science Advances, THC can help with the production of serotonin, while also reducing inflammation, cholesterol and secondary bile acids.
HIV treatment
With treatments like antiretroviral therapy (ART), “HIV is no longer a death sentence,” said Mahesh Mohan, a professor at the Texas Biomedical Research Institute.
“The virus becomes latent, and as long as you’re taking the drugs every day, the virus is kept suppressed,” he told Straight Arrow News. “And you can live normally.”
However, a “chronic inflammation persists because you can’t eliminate the virus from the body,” he added.
“There are areas where the drugs cannot penetrate, like the lymph nodes, maybe even the brain, so there you can get occult viral replication,” Mohan said. “So these people, they maintain a heightened state of inflammation compared to a normal, uninfected individual, and so this inflammation drives comorbidities. They age faster.”
In addition, ART drugs can be toxic to the liver over time.
But now, with low doses of THC, “we have a good anti-inflammatory where you can tone down the inflammation, and then you keep them on ART so they could improve their quality of life,” Mohan said.
How the study was conducted
To conduct the study, researchers used two groups of rhesus macaques infected with simian immunodeficiency virus, the non-human primate equivalent of HIV. The monkeys show a similar type of disease progression to humans, Mohan said.
Both groups were given ART for five months, but one was also given a dose of THC that was too low to produce a high. After five months, the two groups suppressed SIV to “undetectable levels,” according to researchers. However, there were much lower levels of ART drugs circulating in the blood of those given THC. Serotonin, which regulates mood, sleep and digestion, was higher in the groups treated with THC.
Monkeys who had low doses of THC also had a more balanced gut microbiome as well as lower levels of secondary bile acids and inflammation. In the THC group, metabolites were increased that help break down fatty acids, which could reduce artery-clogging plaque and potentially improve cardiovascular health.
On the other hand, the “control” group that wasn’t given THC still had “significantly elevated” levels of fatty acids, researchers said.
Now, scientists say, more research is needed to see if people see the same results, as this study was done on primates.
Low doses of THC medications are currently approved by the Food and Drug Administration for treating chemotherapy-induced nausea and vomiting, as well as AIDS-related anorexia and weight loss.
Editor’s Note: This article has been updated to correctly characterize Mahesh Mohan’s research and the THC’s effects. Straight Arrow News regrets the error.
