Abrams Protocol Submitted Anew
Donald Abrams, M.D.
UC-San Francisco

Below is a summary of the protocol, "Short-term Effects of Cannabinoids in HIV Patients" which was submitted by Dr. Donald Abrams, et al., UC-San Francisco, to the National Institutes of Health (NIH) by a May 1, 1997 grant deadline. If accepted by the NIH, this study would cost nearly a million dollars and would take three years to complete. MAPS donated $5,000 for the preparation of this grant application. NIH's decision regarding this application will be announced before the end of September, 1997.

Summary

Our primary aim is to determine the safety/toxicity profile of cannabinoids in persons with HIV infection. We propose to do this by conducting a randomized, prospective study whose primary goal is to determine the short-term effects of smoked marijuana on the pharmacokinetics of indinavir, the immune system and the level of HIV-1 viral load in persons with HIV-1 infection. The study will be composed of three successive phases. The first phase will be a 4-day lead-in period in which baseline measurements a re obtained. This will be followed immediately by a 21-day intervention phase in which subjects receive either marijuana cigarettes (Group A), dronabinol capsules (Group B), or placebo capsules (Group C). Subjects in Group A will smoke one 4% THC-content marijuana cigarette three times daily, one hour prior to each meal. Group B and C subjects will receive dronabinol 2.5 mg or placebo three times daily, one hour prior to meals. In the last phase, subjects will be evaluated as out-patients (with no intervention) on days 28, 35 and 32. Subjects will be hospitalized in the General Clinical Research Center (GCRC) at San Francisco General Hospital for the first two phases of the trial (25 days) because, at present, legal use of smoked marijuana is restricted to medically supervised settings. The inpatient setting also permits us to measure plasma THC levels as a means to assess the total dose delivered, and to rigorously assess the safety parameters and measures of possible efficacy, including appetite, food intake, body composition and weight. Eligible subjects will be currently receiving indinavir and will be experienced marijuana users. The primary outcomes are change from baseline in (1) HIV-1 viral load and (2) indinavir concentration (area under the curve). Because both indinavir and dronabinol are metabolized in the liver, interactions between these treatments could alter the concentration of indinavir, thus increasing its toxicity or decreasing its efficacy. In turn, lower indinavir concentration could result in an increase in viral load. We include Control Group B (dronabinol capsules) in order to simultaneously evaluate these outcomes in subjects treated according to the current standard of care. We include Control Group C (placebo capsules) to estab lish baseline values under out experimental conditions. We will also summarize the short-term effects of smoked marijuana on variables associated with HIV-1 wasting syndrome by measuring changes over 21 days of use in endocrine function, appetite, energy intake, body composition and weight. If the current study demonstrates that smoked marijuana does not have the serious short-term side effects studied here, we would next research safety and efficacy of the chronic use of marijuana for HIV-associated anor exia and weight loss. These data will help to identify the most powerful measures to assess efficacy and provide estimates of effect size and variance.

Questions may be directed to:

Donald Abrams, M.D.
Community Consortium
3180 18th St., Suite 210
San Francisco, CA 94110