Oral Cannabidiol Treatment Is Associated with an Anti-Inflammatory Gene Expression Signature in Myeloid Cells of People Living with HIV

Introduction: HIV-related comorbidities appear to be related to chronic inflammation, a condition characterizing people living with HIV (PLWH). Prior work indicates that cannabidiol (CBD) might reduce inflammation; however, the genetics underpinning of this effect are not well investigated. Our main objective is to detect gene expression alterations in human peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMCs) from PLWH after at least 1 month of CBD treatment.

Materials and Methods: We analyzed ∼41,000 PBMCs from three PLWH at baseline and after CBD treatment (27-60 days) through single-cell RNA sequencing.

Results: We obtained a coherent signature, characterized by an anti-inflammatory activity, of differentially expressed genes in myeloid cells.

Conclusions: Our study shows how CBD is associated with alterations of gene expression in myeloid cells after CBD treatment. Clinical Trial Registration: NCT05209867.