Elsevier

Life Sciences

Volume 54, Issue 17, 1994, Pages 1281-1289
Life Sciences

Δ9-tetrahydrocannabinol (THC) modulates IL-1 bioactivity in human monocyte/macrophage cell lines

https://doi.org/10.1016/0024-3205(94)00856-6Get rights and content

Abstract

We have previously observed that Δ9-tetrahydrocannabinol (THC), the major psychoactive component of marijuana, increased supernatant interleukin-1 (IL-1) bioactivity in cultures of mouse resident peritoneal macrophages stimulated with lipopolysaccharide (LPS). In this study, experiments were performed to determine whether THC treatment similarly affected phagocytes of human origin. The results showed that THC increased the levels of supernatant IL-1 bioactivity of two human monocytic cell lines, but only if the cells were differentiated with phorbol myristate acetate. Undifferentiated cells displayed decreased IL-1 bioactivity in response to THC. However, under conditions in which THC augmented supernatant IL-1 bioactivity from THP-1 cells, ELISA studies showed that the levels of IL-1α and IL-1β were unchanged and decreased, respectively. Furthermore, supernatant interleukin-6 (IL-6) levels were decreased, but tumor necrosis factor (TNF-α) levels were increased by THC treatment. These results show that THC treatment modulates cytokine production and/or release by mouse and human macrophages and the drug effects on IL-1-like bioactivity in the supernatants of the human THP-1 cells are due to increased levels of other cytokines, such as TNF-α, rather than IL-1 itself.

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