Researchers discover that daily cannabis use reduces neuroinflammation in HIV patients

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Regular medical cannabis use can reduce chronic neurological inflammation in patients with HIV (PWH), according to a new study published in the Journal of the International Neuropsychological Society.

Previous research studies have shown that HIV patients who use cannabis tend to have fewer neurocognitive impairments than those who do not. While most of these studies were unable to determine the biological mechanism responsible for this phenomenon, a recent study found that HIV patients who consumed cannabis recently had fewer signs of inflammation.

To investigate the problem further, researchers at the University of California at San Diego conducted a new study to find out if cannabis could help reduce inflammation of the CNS (central nervous system) in people with HIV.

The research team recruited 198 HIV-positive subjects, including 105 who did not use cannabis, 62 who used cannabis moderately, and 31 who consumed medicinal pot on a daily basis. As a control group, the researchers selected another 65 subjects who were HIV negative and who did not use cannabis at all.

The researchers used Kruskal-Wallis tests to test for inflammatory biomarkers in the subjects’ blood and cerebrospinal fluid. These tests monitor for increased levels of specific proteins that can indicate whether a person has neural inflammation.

It found that patients who consumed cannabis on a daily basis had significantly less chronic inflammation than those who did not use medical marijuana. In fact, the levels of inflammation in cannabis-using PWH were similar to those in patients who did not have HIV.

The researchers also performed a series of standard cognitive performance tests and found that HIV patients who consumed cannabis on a daily basis performed better than HIV-positive individuals who did not use it at all, confirming the results of previous studies.

“Taken together, the results agree with the idea that cannabinoids can modulate inflammatory processes in PWH, especially in the CNS, and suggest a connection between lower CNS inflammation and better neurocognitive function,” the study authors wrote, according to NORML. “Future studies of PWH are needed to investigate possible different effects of certain cannabinoids and medical use in adults on the structure and function of the brain.”

Although research into the use of cannabis to treat neuroinflammation in HIV patients is still in its infancy, scientists have explored the use of medicinal pot to treat other forms of inflammation more thoroughly. Millions of people already use CBD to treat muscle inflammation and exercise-related injuries, and recent research has shown that CBD may also reduce pneumonia related to COVID infections.

Researchers are also investigating whether CBD or other cannabinoids can help treat other inflammation-related conditions such as inflammatory bowel disease (IBD), fibromyalgia, and even injuries from stroke or head trauma.