Chronic opioid-associated immune dysregulation among people living with HIV
Objectives: Persistent immune dysregulation contributes to chronic disease among people living with HIV (PWH), even after viral suppression with antiretroviral therapy (ART). Although chronic opioid exposure is associated with adverse clinical outcomes, its impact on immune homeostasis during ART remains incompletely understood. We investigated whether opioid use disorder (OUD) is associated with…
Persistent immune dysregulation among individuals living with HIV (PWH) who have an opioid use disorder (OUD) persists even after effective management of their HIV viral load (VL) through antiretroviral therapy (ART), according to a recent study. This research aimed to determine if OUD is connected to ongoing systemic and cellular immune abnormalities despite the reductions in HIV VL achieved by ART.
The study collected peripheral blood samples from PWH with OUD throughout six months of optimized ART treatment, as well as from a control group of PWH without OUD who also had suppressed HIV VL. The immune profiling involved measuring various plasma inflammatory biomarkers, analyzing multiplex cytokine levels, conducting spectral flow cytometry, and assessing monocyte cytokine responses to lipopolysaccharide (LPS) stimulation.
Findings showed that PWH with OUD continued to exhibit immune dysregulation even after ART reduced their HIV VL. Blood tests revealed consistently elevated levels of certain immune markers (sCD163, sCD14, fractalkine, and I-TAC), while another key immune marker (TGF-β1) was found to be reduced. OUD was linked to an increased presence of CD16 monocytes and changes in the expression of several immune cell markers, including CCR2, CD38, and CD11b.
Additionally, both CD4 and CD8 T cells, NK cells, and B cells showed enduring alterations in their activation, metabolism, and movement patterns.
One notable aspect of the study was the observation that monocytes from PWH with OUD displayed a less robust response to LPS stimulation compared to the control group. The researchers concluded that OUD contributes to persistent immune dysfunction in PWH, even when ART successfully lowers their HIV VL. This finding suggests that opioid exposure may independently increase the risk of chronic immune dysregulation, potentially leading to inflammation, immune dysfunction, and long-term complications associated with HIV.
Written by urgent.news from bioRxiv's reporting — not their text. Machine-written — may contain errors; check the original before relying on it.
