HIV AND CANNABIS MAY MIX AFTER ALL

HealthDayNews - Short-term use of medical
marijuana causes no harm to people with HIV who are on combination
antiretroviral therapy, says a University of California, San Francisco
(UCSF) study.

Researchers found no harmful changes in HIV levels in the participants
when they smoked marijuana or took dronabinol, an oral medical
cannabinoid.

The 25-day study included 62 HIV-infected people on antiretroviral
regimens containing a protease inhibitor. The volunteers were divided
into three groups: 20 smoked marijuana, 22 received dronabinol, and 20
received an oral placebo.

Researchers measured changes in HIV levels in the blood of the
volunteers as well as the counts for CD 4 and CD 8 T lymphocyte cells,
which are disease-fighting white blood cells that defend against
infection and are targeted and destroyed by the AIDS virus.

In all three groups, patients with detectable levels of HIV had no
change in the levels of virus in their blood. CD 4 T-cell counts
increased by about 20 per cent for both the groups that used marijuana
and dronabinol. CD 8 T-cell counts increased by 20 per cent in the
marijuana group and by 10 per cent in the dronabinol group.

There was no increase in CD 4 or CD 8 T-cell counts in the placebo
group.

The study was published in the Aug. 19 issue of the journal Annals of
Internal Medicine.

"The change in lymphocyte counts for the smoked marijuana group is
intriguing. At a minimum, it contradicts findings from previous
studies suggesting that smoked marijuana suppresses the immune
system," study author Dr. Donald Abrams, a USCF professor of clinical
medicine, says in a news release.

"People with HIV are a vulnerable population, so successfully
addressing the safety concerns allows us to move on to effectiveness
studies, three of which are currently under way here," Abrams says.

(HealthDay is the new name for HealthScoutNews.)