Cocaine, HIV Linked In Research That Suggests Use Of Drug Boosts Vulnerability To Virus

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. read more...