Marijuana May Help HIV Patients Keep Mental Stamina

Michigan State University researchers have found that a chemical found in marijuana know as tetrahydrocannabinol, commonly called THC, has the potential to slow the process of which HIV patients experience mental decline by up to 50%. The findings of this study have been published in the journal AIDS.

Cognitive functions are believed to decrease in those infected with HIV due to chronic inflammation that happens in the brain, which happens because the immune system is constantly being stimulated to fight off the disease, says Norbert Kaminski.

The researchers discovered that the compounds found in marijuana had the ability to act as an anti-inflammatory agent, by decreasing the amounts of monocytes, which are inflammatory white blood cells, and reducing the amounts of proteins that these cells then release into the body. Suggesting that the process may result in helping patients to maintain cognitive functions longer, with this significant reduction it could slow down and/or even stop the inflammatory process aiding in mental stamina. 

Blood samples were taken from 40 HIV patients who reported if they use marijuana or not. The team then isolated white blood cells from each sample and evaluated the effects of marijuana on the inflammatory cell levels. It was observed in the patients who did not use marijuana at all that they all had very high levels of inflammatory cells when they were compared to those that did use marijuana in some form, says Kaminski. Going on to add  that those who did use marijuana in some form had levels which were close to the levels of a healthy person not infected with HIV. This is a significant difference.

Kaminski has been studying in his lab since 1990 the effects that marijuana has on the immune system. These findings from Kaminski’s  lab were the 1st to identify the proteins that bind marijuana compounds on the surface of immune cells, which had previously been unclear.

Human immunodeficiency virus, commonly known as HIV, infects and can destroy immune cells, while changing the functions of these immune cells that are responsible for defending the body. The current standard form of treatment is a cocktail of drugs to help ward off the virus, using this antiretroviral therapy gives these cells a better chance of staying intact. Even with the faithful use of this current therapy the white blood cells can still be over stimulated and become inflammatory eventually.

The team will be continuing to investigate how the cells interact and cause inflammation in the brain. What is learned by these, and additional studies may also have implications for other diseases such as Parkinson’s and Alzheimer’s, in which the same inflammatory cells have been found to be involved, says Mike Rizzo.

Understanding more about these interactions and processes could lead to new therapeutic agents and mechanisms which may help HIV infected patients with the ability to maintain their mental function. It may not be smoking marijuana, it may be people taking it as a pill to receive the key compounds found in the marijuana plant that could help.