1. A Prospective Study of Humoral and Cellular Immune Responses to Hepatitis B Vaccination in Habitual Marijuana Smokers
- Author
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Kiertscher, Sylvia M, Gangalum, Pallavi R, Ibrahim, Grace, Tashkin, Donald P, and Roth, Michael D
- Subjects
Biomedical and Clinical Sciences ,Immunology ,Vaccine Related ,Immunization ,Emerging Infectious Diseases ,Hepatitis ,Liver Disease ,Drug Abuse (NIDA only) ,Brain Disorders ,Substance Misuse ,Digestive Diseases ,Infectious Diseases ,Prevention ,Clinical Research ,2.1 Biological and endogenous factors ,Aetiology ,Inflammatory and immune system ,Good Health and Well Being ,Adult ,Female ,Hepatitis B Antibodies ,Hepatitis B Vaccines ,Humans ,Immunity ,Cellular ,Immunity ,Humoral ,Male ,Marijuana Smoking ,Middle Aged ,Prospective Studies ,Young Adult ,Hepatitis B vaccine ,Delta(9)-tetrahydrocannabinol ,Marijuana ,Dendritic cells ,T cells ,Hepatitis B surface antigen ,Δ9-tetrahydrocannabinol ,Neurosciences ,Pharmacology and Pharmaceutical Sciences ,Neurology & Neurosurgery ,Pharmacology and pharmaceutical sciences - Abstract
Exposure to Δ9-tetrahydrocannabinol (THC) in vitro and in animal models can significantly impair the differentiation, activation and function of dendritic cells, T cells and B cells. However, studies directly assessing the impact of marijuana smoking on human immunity are lacking. A prospective study of immune responses to a standard hepatitis B vaccination was therefore carried out in a matched cohort of 9 marijuana smokers (MS) and 9 nonsmokers (NS). In addition to their regular marijuana use, MS smoked four marijuana cigarettes in a monitored setting on the day of each vaccination. Blood samples were collected over time to assess the development of hepatitis B-specific immunity. The majority of subjects from both the NS (8) and MS (6) groups developed positive hepatitis B surface antibody titers (>10 IU/L) and of these 6 NS and 5 MS were classified as high antibody (good) responders (>100 IU/L). The development of a good response correlated with the presence of hepatitis B-specific T cell proliferation and cytokine production, resulting in a clear distinction regarding the immune status of good responders versus non-responders. However, even though there were slighter more non-responders in the MS cohort, there were no significant differences between MS and NS with respect to peripheral blood cell phenotypes or vaccination-related changes in hepatitis B responses. While a larger cohort may be required to rule out a small suppressive effect, our findings do not suggest that habitual marijuana smoking exerts a major impact on the development of systemic immunity to hepatitis B vaccination.
- Published
- 2018