Cocaine may not only rewire the brain
after one use, but could also increase
users' susceptibility to HIV, a new study
suggests.
Researchers at the University of
California, Los Angeles, found that a
specific type of immune cell becomes
susceptible to the virus after cocaine use.
"Our studies focused on a unique
population of immune cells (cells that
constitute our body's defenses against
infection), quiescent CD4 T cells, which
can be targeted by HIV but are resistant
to the virus," lead researcher Dr.
Dimitrios Vatakis, co-director of UCLA's
CFAR Virology Core Laboratory, told The
Huffington Post in an email. "We have
shown that cocaine exposure sensitizes
these cells and increases their
susceptibility to infection."
To test their hypothesis, the researchers
collected samples of these dormant
immune cells, which constitute the
majority of T cells in the body, from
healthy human donors. The samples were
then exposed to cocaine and infected with
HIV in a laboratory setting.
Comparing the infected samples to
healthy cells, researchers found that the
HIV infection was enhanced within cells
that were dosed with cocaine over a
period of three days. This suggests that
cocaine use not only makes these immune
cells more susceptible to HIV but also may
hasten the actual integration and growth
of the virus.
Cocaine -- or, more specifically, crack
cocaine -- was linked previously to an
acceleration of the CD4 cell count.
Research published in 2010 indicated that
this acceleration has the potential to
speed the progression of HIV infection to
full-blown AIDS.
Earlier this year, another study revealed
that an HIV protein involved in the
transcription of the virus boosts the
effects of cocaine in mice.
The new study was published in the
October issue of the Journal of Leukocyte
Biology.