Cannabis use is associated with pro-atherogenic immune cell activation in young and healthy users

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Although the legal use of cannabis is gradually expanding, including legalization in the USA, the cardiovascular safety of its consumption remains unclear. Epidemiological studies have often included confounding variables, such as the common co-occurrence of cannabis and tobacco use, and the molecular pathways downstream of cannabis receptors can have distinct or conflicting effects on systemic inflammation.

In a recent Letter published in Circulation Research, Kelesidis et al. developed a vascular inflammation model to investigate the effect of cannabis use and nicotine-based electronic cigarette smoking on pro-atherogenic immune cell behavior. Holly Middlekauff, the corresponding author of the study, told us that the idea behind this study derives from their direct clinical experience when caring for young patients who experienced cardiovascular events without apparent risk factors beyond the use of cannabis. The importance of inflammation for atherosclerosis development, its complex interplay with cannabis, and the development of the vascular inflammation platform prompted them to pursue this line of research.