Evidence map›Paper›PMID 41998680›Full record

ArticleJournal of neuroinflammation2026

Cannabis use by people with HIV is associated with an anti-inflammatory immunometabolic phenotype in monocyte-derived macrophages.

Mary K Ford, Peter W Halcrow, Anna E Laird, Bryant L Avalos, Ali Boustani, Matthew Spencer, Jack I Melcher, Kyle C Walter, Derek D Hong, Gail Funk and 8 more

Abstract read
PubMed Full text at PMC Publisher
In one paragraph

Article in Journal of neuroinflammation, 2026. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Not yet cited in PubMed.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
0citing papers in PubMed
–field-weighted citation impact
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

0 citing papers in PubMed.

No citing paper in PubMed yet.

4 · The record

Corrections and comments

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

18 authors.

Mary K Ford *Department of Psychiatry, University of California, San Diego, 9500 Gilman Drive, La Jolla, CA, 92093, USA.
Peter W Halcrow *Department of Psychiatry, University of California, San Diego, 9500 Gilman Drive, La Jolla, CA, 92093, USA.
Anna E LairdDepartment of Psychiatry, University of California, San Diego, 9500 Gilman Drive, La Jolla, CA, 92093, USA.
Bryant L AvalosDepartment of Psychiatry, University of California, San Diego, 9500 Gilman Drive, La Jolla, CA, 92093, USA.
Ali BoustaniDepartment of Psychiatry, University of California, San Diego, 9500 Gilman Drive, La Jolla, CA, 92093, USA.
Matthew SpencerDepartment of Psychiatry, University of California, San Diego, 9500 Gilman Drive, La Jolla, CA, 92093, USA.
Jack I MelcherDepartment of Psychiatry, University of California, San Diego, 9500 Gilman Drive, La Jolla, CA, 92093, USA.
Kyle C WalterDepartment of Psychiatry, University of California, San Diego, 9500 Gilman Drive, La Jolla, CA, 92093, USA.
Derek D HongDepartment of Psychiatry, University of California, San Diego, 9500 Gilman Drive, La Jolla, CA, 92093, USA.
Gail FunkDepartment of Psychiatry, University of California, San Diego, 9500 Gilman Drive, La Jolla, CA, 92093, USA.
Elizabeth G SearsonDepartment of Psychiatry, University of California, San Diego, 9500 Gilman Drive, La Jolla, CA, 92093, USA.
Alexandra A LeDepartment of Psychiatry, University of California, San Diego, 9500 Gilman Drive, La Jolla, CA, 92093, USA.
Ronald J EllisDepartment of Psychiatry, University of California, San Diego, 9500 Gilman Drive, La Jolla, CA, 92093, USA.
Scott LetendreDepartment of Psychiatry, University of California, San Diego, 9500 Gilman Drive, La Jolla, CA, 92093, USA.
Maria Cecilia Garibaldi MarcondesSan Diego Biomedical Research Institute, San Diego, CA, USA.
Johannes Cm SchlachetzkiDepartment of Neurosciences, University of California, San Diego, La Jolla, CA, USA.
Jennifer Iudicello *Department of Psychiatry, University of California, San Diego, 9500 Gilman Drive, La Jolla, CA, 92093, USA.
Jerel Adam Fields *Department of Psychiatry, University of California, San Diego, 9500 Gilman Drive, La Jolla, CA, 92093, USA. jafields@health.ucsd.edu.

Funding

Cannabis and Pathogenic Mechanisms influencing Blood Brain Barrier Function in HIVR01DA058405 · UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA, SAN DIEGO · 2025 to 2025
$1.2M
The role of TREM2 in Alzheimer's disease related neuropathogenesis in people with HIVR01AG092255 · UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA, SAN DIEGO · 2025 to 2025
$768k
NIA NIH HHS AG092255NIA NIH HHS R01 AG092255NIDA NIH HHS DA058405NIDA NIH HHS DA062278NIDA NIH HHS R01 DA053052NIDA NIH HHS R01 DA058405NIMH NIH HHS MH128108
6 · The paper itself

Abstract

Chronic neuroinflammation is associated with comorbidities in people with HIV (PWH) on antiretroviral therapy (ART). While cannabis use is associated with reduced neuroinflammation and neurocognitive impairment (NCI) in PWH, the underlying mechanisms are unknown. To address this gap in knowledge, we analyzed monocyte-derived macrophages (MDMs) from a cohort of 50 PWH and 33 people without HIV (mean age: 61.9 years), categorized by frequency of cannabis use (naïve/low, moderate, daily). We performed immunocytochemistry, RNA sequencing, and qPCR on MDMs and quantified related biomarkers in donor plasma. In this cohort study, daily cannabis use in PWH was associated with less global neurocognitive deficits, and with an anti-inflammatory immunometabolic-phenotype in MDMs characterized by (1) a metabolic shift from glycolysis to oxidative phosphorylation, (2) higher mitochondrial numbers, (3) altered cytokine profiles (pro-inflammatory downregulation, anti-inflammatory upregulation), and (4) higher brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF) expression. These cellular changes were corroborated by a plasma biomarker profile in PWH including (1) lower levels of growth differentiation factor 15 and soluble triggering receptor expressed on myeloid cells 2, and (2) higher mature BDNF/precursor BDNF ratios that correlated with better cognition. Thus, cannabis use may mitigate NCI in PWH by immunometabolically reprogramming MDM function towards an anti-inflammatory and neuroprotective state.

Indexed as

HIV InfectionsMacrophagesMarijuana UseAgedCohort StudiesCytokinesFemaleHumansMaleMiddle AgedPhenotypeCytokinesCannabisHIVImmunometabolismMonocyte-derived MacrophagesNeurocognitive Impairment

Identifiers

PMID41998680
PMCPMC13214123

What Socratic holds

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Registered trials

None linked

Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the Socratic graph.