Drugs of abuse, immune modulation, and AIDS

J Neuroimmune Pharmacol. 2006 Sep;1(3):280-95. doi: 10.1007/s11481-006-9023-5. Epub 2006 Jun 28.

Abstract

Illicit drugs such as amphetamines, cocaine, marijuana, and opiates alter immune function and decrease host resistance to microbes in vitro and in experimental animal models. Effects on the immune system may be mediated indirectly as a result of drug interactions in the central nervous system (CNS) or directly through activation of cognate receptors on various immune cell types. For marijuana and opioids, seven-transmembranal G protein-coupled receptors have been identified in the CNS and in the immune system that may play a functionally relevant role in immune modulation. There is accumulating evidence that sigma(1) receptors play a comparable role in cocaine-mediated alteration of immune responses. A mode by which these exogenously introduced substances affects immunity and host resistance may be by perturbing the balance of Th(1) proinflammatory versus Th(2) anti-inflammatory cytokines and lipid bioeffectors. However, while illicit drugs have been documented to alter immune functions in vitro and in animal models, there is a paucity of controlled longitudinal epidemiological studies that definitively correlate immunosuppressive effects with increased incidence of infections or immune disorders in humans, including infection with the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) or disease progression to AIDS.

Publication types

  • Research Support, N.I.H., Extramural
  • Review

MeSH terms

  • Acquired Immunodeficiency Syndrome / immunology*
  • Animals
  • HIV-1 / drug effects
  • HIV-1 / immunology
  • HIV-1 / pathogenicity
  • Humans
  • Illicit Drugs / pharmacology*
  • Immune System / drug effects*
  • Immune System / virology
  • Neuroimmunomodulation / physiology*
  • Substance-Related Disorders / immunology*
  • Substance-Related Disorders / virology

Substances

  • Illicit Drugs