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Falcinelli SD, Cooper-Volkheimer AD, Semenova L, Wu E, Richardson A, Ashokkumar M, Margolis DM, Archin NM, Rudin CD, Murdoch D, Browne EP. Impact of Cannabis Use on Immune Cell Populations and the Viral Reservoir in People With HIV on Suppressive Antiretroviral Therapy. J Infect Dis 2023; 228:1600-1609. [PMID: 37606598 PMCID: PMC10681869 DOI: 10.1093/infdis/jiad364] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/16/2023] [Revised: 08/15/2023] [Accepted: 08/21/2023] [Indexed: 08/23/2023] Open
Abstract
BACKGROUND Human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) infection remains incurable due to the persistence of a viral reservoir despite antiretroviral therapy (ART). Cannabis (CB) use is prevalent amongst people with HIV (PWH), but the impact of CB on the latent HIV reservoir has not been investigated. METHODS Peripheral blood cells from a cohort of PWH who use CB and a matched cohort of PWH who do not use CB on ART were evaluated for expression of maturation/activation markers, HIV-specific T-cell responses, and intact proviral DNA. RESULTS CB use was associated with increased abundance of naive T cells, reduced effector T cells, and reduced expression of activation markers. CB use was also associated with reduced levels of exhausted and senescent T cells compared to nonusing controls. HIV-specific T-cell responses were unaffected by CB use. CB use was not associated with intact or total HIV DNA frequency in CD4 T cells. CONCLUSIONS This analysis is consistent with the hypothesis that CB use reduces activation, exhaustion, and senescence in the T cells of PWH, and does not impair HIV-specific CD8 T-cell responses. Longitudinal and interventional studies with evaluation of CB exposure are needed to fully evaluate the impact of CB use on the HIV reservoir.
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Affiliation(s)
- Shane D Falcinelli
- Department of Medicine, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Chapel Hill, North Carolina, USA
- Department of Microbiology and Immunology, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Chapel Hill, North Carolina, USA
- HIV Cure Center, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Chapel Hill, North Carolina, USA
| | | | - Lesia Semenova
- Department of Computer Science, Duke University, Durham, North Carolina, USA
| | - Ethan Wu
- Department of Computer Science, Duke University, Durham, North Carolina, USA
| | | | - Manickam Ashokkumar
- Department of Medicine, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Chapel Hill, North Carolina, USA
- HIV Cure Center, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Chapel Hill, North Carolina, USA
| | - David M Margolis
- Department of Medicine, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Chapel Hill, North Carolina, USA
- Department of Microbiology and Immunology, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Chapel Hill, North Carolina, USA
- HIV Cure Center, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Chapel Hill, North Carolina, USA
| | - Nancie M Archin
- Department of Medicine, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Chapel Hill, North Carolina, USA
- HIV Cure Center, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Chapel Hill, North Carolina, USA
| | - Cynthia D Rudin
- Department of Computer Science, Duke University, Durham, North Carolina, USA
| | - David Murdoch
- Department of Medicine, Duke University, Durham, North Carolina, USA
| | - Edward P Browne
- Department of Medicine, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Chapel Hill, North Carolina, USA
- Department of Microbiology and Immunology, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Chapel Hill, North Carolina, USA
- HIV Cure Center, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Chapel Hill, North Carolina, USA
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Semenova L, Wang Y, Falcinelli S, Archin N, Cooper-Volkheimer AD, Margolis DM, Goonetilleke N, Murdoch DM, Rudin CD, Browne EP. Machine learning approaches identify immunologic signatures of total and intact HIV DNA during long-term antiretroviral therapy. bioRxiv 2023:2023.11.16.567386. [PMID: 38014340 PMCID: PMC10680759 DOI: 10.1101/2023.11.16.567386] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Abstract] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/29/2023]
Abstract
Antiretroviral therapy (ART) halts HIV replication; however, cellular / immue cell viral reservoirs persist despite ART. Understanding the interplay between the HIV reservoir, immune perturbations, and HIV-specific immune responses on ART may yield insights into HIV persistence. A cross-sectional study of peripheral blood samples from 115 people with HIV (PWH) on long-term ART was conducted. High-dimensional immunophenotyping, quantification of HIV-specific T cell responses, and the intact proviral DNA assay (IPDA) were performed. Total and intact HIV DNA was positively correlated with T cell activation and exhaustion. Years of ART and select bifunctional HIV-specific CD4 T cell responses were negatively correlated with the percentage of intact proviruses. A Leave-One-Covariate-Out (LOCO) inference approach identified specific HIV reservoir and clinical-demographic parameters that were particularly important in predicting select immunophenotypes. Dimension reduction revealed two main clusters of PWH with distinct reservoirs. Additionally, machine learning approaches identified specific combinations of immune and clinical-demographic parameters that predicted with approximately 70% accuracy whether a given participant had qualitatively high or low levels of total or intact HIV DNA. The techniques described here may be useful for assessing global patterns within the increasingly high-dimensional data used in HIV reservoir and other studies of complex biology.
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