DELTA(9) TETRAHYDROCANNABINOL AND CANNABIDIOL ALTER CYTOKINE PRODUCTION BY HUMAN IMMUNE CELLS

Marijuana, a widely abused drug in the US, and its derivatives (cannab inoids) have been used in AIDS and cancer patients for treatment of in tractable nausea and cachexia. Yet, objective investigations of the ef fect of cannabinoids on the human immune system are few. We investigat ed the effect of Delta(9) tetrahydrocannabinol (THC) and cannabidiol ( CBD) on cytokine production in vitro by human leukemic T, B, eosinophi lic and CD8(+) NK cell lines as models. THC decreased constitutive pro duction of IL-8, MIP-1 alpha, MIP-1 beta, and RANTES and phorbol ester stimulated production of TNF-alpha, GM-CSF and IFN-gamma by NK cells. It inhibited MIP-1 beta in HTLV-1 positive B-cells but tripled IL-8; MIP-1 alpha and MIP-1 beta in B-cells and MIP-1 beta in eosinophilic c ells but doubled IL-8. Both cannabinoids strongly inhibited IL-10 prod uction by HUT-78 T-cells. Results indicate that THC and nonpsychotropi c CBD have complex lineage and derivative specific effects on cytokine s consistent with previous animal studies. These effects while of pote ntial benefits in some inflammatory/autoimmune diseases may worsen HIV infection, tumorigenesis and allergic inflammation in the lung. (C) 1 998 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved.