Journal Article

Cocaine use associated gut permeability and microbial translocation in people living with HIV in the Miami Adult Study on HIV (MASH) cohort

Sékaly, Rafick-Pierre, Lai, Shenghan, Meeds, Heidi L., Bordi, Rebeka, Rouster, Susan D., Tamargo, Javier A., Sherman, Kenneth E., Sales Martinez, Sabrina, Baum, Marianna K., Hernandez, Jacqueline, Martin, Haley R., Khalsa, Jag H., Campa, Adriana, Mandler, Raul N.

2022

Overview

Determine if cocaine use impacts gut permeability, promotes microbial translocation and immune activation in people living with HIV (PLWH) using effective antiretroviral therapy (ART). Cross-sectional analysis of 100 PLWH (ART ≥6 months, HIV-RNA <200 copies/mL) from the Miami Adult Studies on HIV (MASH) cohort. Cocaine use was assessed by self-report, urine screen, and blood benzoylecgonine (BE). Blood samples were collected to assess gut permeability (intestinal fatty acid-binding protein, I-FABP), microbial translocation (lipopolysaccharide, LPS), immune activation (sCD14, sCD27, and sCD163) and markers of inflammation (hs-CRP, TNF-α and IL-6). Multiple linear regression models were used to analyze the relationships of cocaine use. A total of 37 cocaine users and 63 cocaine non-users were evaluated. Cocaine users had higher levels of I-FABP (7.92±0.35 vs. 7.69±0.56 pg/mL, P = 0.029) and LPS (0.76±0.24 vs. 0.54±0.27 EU/mL, P<0.001) than cocaine non-users. Cocaine use was also associated with the levels of LPS (P<0.001), I-FABP (P = 0.033), and sCD163 (P = 0.010) after adjusting for covariates. Cocaine users had 5.15 times higher odds to exhibit higher LPS levels than non-users (OR: 5.15 95% CI: 1.89-13.9; P<0.001). Blood levels of BE were directly correlated with LPS (rho = 0.276, P = 0.028), sCD14 (rho = 0.274, P = 0.031), and sCD163 (rho = 0.250, P = 0.049). Cocaine use was associated with markers of gut permeability, microbial translocation, and immune activation in virally suppressed PLWH. Mitigation of cocaine use may prevent further gastrointestinal damage and immune activation in PLWH.

• Publisher: Public Library of Science,Public Library of Science (PLoS)
• Subject: Adult / Antiretroviral agents / Antiretroviral drugs / Antiretroviral therapy / Biology and Life Sciences / Biomarkers / Blood / Blood levels / C-Reactive Protein / Care and treatment / Cocaine / Cocaine - adverse effects / Cocaine-Related Disorders - complications / Complications and side effects / Cross-Sectional Studies / Damage prevention / Diagnosis / Digestive system / Digestive tract / Drug abuse / Drug use / Evaluation / Fatty acid-binding protein / Fatty Acid-Binding Proteins / Fatty acids / Gastrointestinal tract / Health aspects / HIV / HIV (Viruses) / HIV Infections - complications / Human immunodeficiency virus / Humans / Immune response / Immunoassay / Infections / Inflammation / Interleukin 6 / Lipopolysaccharide Receptors / Lipopolysaccharides / Lymphocytes / Markers / Medical records / Medicine and Health Sciences / Microbiota (Symbiotic organisms) / Microorganisms / Mitigation / Patient outcomes / Permeability / Physical Sciences / Plasma / Protein transport / Regression analysis / Regression models / RNA / Social Sciences / Translocation / Tumor Necrosis Factor-alpha / Tumor necrosis factor-α