Can Marijuana Be Used in HIV Therapy?

Although cannabinoids are already used in the treatment of HIV infection and its related symptoms, marijuana is primarily applied as a palliative care tool for patients, rather than as a direct medication. However, recent studies on the use of marijuana in HIV therapy have uncovered some intriguing phenomena, suggesting that compounds in the plant may directly address certain manifestations of the disease.

What Is HIV?

Human Immunodeficiency Virus, or HIV, is a global, incurable viral epidemic that affects the human immune system, ultimately disabling it and leaving the body vulnerable to various infections. The virus not only evades detection by the body’s white blood cells, also known as T-cells, but also destroys them, making the body defenseless.

Infections occur in the human body when it encounters foreign organisms such as bacteria and viruses, which release harmful substances or damage tissues during their life processes. Normally, when traces of such pathogens are detected, white blood cells release enzymes to call other cells to the infection site or begin to rapidly divide to create reinforcements. The new cells produced during this process are already programmed to detect and safely eliminate the identified pathogen and similar threats.

White blood cells literally consume bacteria, virus cells, and other body cells that have been infected or damaged. Unfortunately, HIV uses this very defense mechanism to reproduce, ultimately disabling it and exposing the patient’s body to various opportunistic infections. Specifically, the virus attacks unsuspecting white blood cells, injecting its genetic material, which quickly leads to the cell’s destruction and the creation of new copies of the virus. Through this chain reaction, the virus can take over the immune system in a matter of hours, leaving the body unprotected against countless microscopic threats.

The main life-threatening danger associated with HIV infection is not the virus itself, but the impact of various opportunistic infections such as pneumonia, tuberculosis, meningitis, or encephalitis, which invade the weakened body after the initial stage of HIV infection. As the body’s immune response weakens with disease progression, even the mildest infections can put serious strain on organs and biological systems. This complication is known as Acquired Immunodeficiency Syndrome, or AIDS.

Medical Therapy for HIV

Currently, doctors worldwide use antiretroviral drugs, as well as medications to modulate and enhance the immune response, to fight both HIV infection and related opportunistic infections. These drugs can generally be divided into four categories based on how they affect the patient’s body:

• Cell Synthesis Inhibitors: Prevent or slow the process of viral cells entering healthy immune system cells.
• Reverse Transcriptase Inhibitors: Block the process of transcribing viral RNA into DNA code.
• Protease Inhibitors: Slow the release of enzymes in cells used to produce new virions.
• Integrase Inhibitors: Slow the production of the enzyme that allows viral RNA to integrate directly into the cell’s DNA code.

The combined use of these drugs with substances for treating viral infections is known as Highly Active Antiretroviral Therapy (HAART).

While this treatment method can significantly reduce the concentration of viral cells in the patient’s body, these drugs are often accompanied by chronic pain and tissue inflammation, nausea and vomiting, as well as depression and extremely low energy. In addition, prolonged treatment can lead to cachexia, or chronic body wasting.

The Use of Marijuana and Its Components in Palliative Care for HIV Patients

First of all, it’s worth noting that a clinical study involving 252 HIV-diagnosed patients showed that those who used marijuana or extracts of specific cannabinoids generally tolerated antiretroviral therapy better, experiencing fewer and less severe negative side effects during long-term treatment.

Another study, published in the journal of the American Association for the Study of HIV, reported that patients who used marijuana alongside antiretroviral therapy had noticeably higher appetite and energy levels compared to those who relied solely on medication.

Does Marijuana Have a Therapeutic Effect on HIV Infection?

In addition to the studies highlighting the effectiveness of marijuana and its components in palliative care for HIV patients, more recent research by various independent scientific groups has found factors and phenomena suggesting that the plant may have a direct healing effect on the infection.

These studies indicate that cannabinoids can directly interact with cells in the body affected by the infection. This phenomenon was first described in a 2016 study published in the journal AIDS Care, a professional publication for immunology therapists. The study involved 55 HIV-positive individuals divided into three control groups based on their marijuana use history: infrequent users, regular users, and those who had never used the plant for therapeutic or recreational purposes.

Blood tests revealed that the first two groups had significantly lower concentrations of viral cells and higher, more active T-cell populations.

These results confirm the findings of a similar, earlier experiment from 2003, which studied the effect of cannabinoids (specifically THC, in the form of the synthetic extract dronabinol) on HIV-infected patients. As in the other study, participants were divided into three groups, two of which regularly consumed small and medium doses of isolated THC in extract form or as joints over 25 days. Blood tests at the end of the experiment showed that, on average, these patients had 20% higher concentrations of T-cells than the control group that did not receive cannabinoids. The greatest increase in CD8 and CD4 T-cells was observed among those who consumed the natural product (20%) compared to those who used dronabinol.

New Experiments That May Shed More Light on This Topic

The most promising and large-scale study on the effectiveness of marijuana in HIV therapy is still underway. This is a clinical trial launched in 2017 to study the effects of marijuana in HIV therapy, planned to last five years and funded by a $3.2 million grant from the U.S. National Institute on Drug Abuse. The project involves 400 HIV-diagnosed patients living in Florida.

The project leader, Dr. Robert Cook, has high hopes for the research. “I have already come across several studies indicating that certain cannabinoids can reduce the concentration of viral cells in the body of an infected subject, while noticeably increasing the production of white blood cells. So far, we can only say that marijuana, in some way, may interact with virus-affected tissues and cells, slowing their spread. However, until now, no one has undertaken a detailed study of this phenomenon. We are interested in observing the effects of THC, CBD, as well as mixtures of these compounds with the plant’s natural terpenes and flavonoids on infection sites.”