Chronic opioid-associated immune dysregulation among people living with HIV

Persistent immune dysregulation contributes to chronic disease among people living with HIV (PWH), even after viral suppression with antiretroviral therapy (ART). Although chronic opioid exposure is associated with adverse clinical outcomes, its impact on immune homeostasis during ART remains incompletely understood. We investigated whether opioid use disorder (OUD) is associated with persistent systemic and cellular immune dysregulation despite ART-mediated reductions in HIV viral load (VL).

Peripheral blood was collected longitudinally from PWH with OUD (PWH/OUD+) and detectable HIV VL during 6 months of optimized ART (months 0, 3, and 6). A reference cohort of PWH without OUD (PWH/OUD-) and suppressed HIV VL provided a single blood sample. Immune profiling included plasma inflammatory biomarkers, multiplex cytokine analyses, spectral flow cytometry, and assessment of monocyte cytokine responses following lipopolysaccharide (LPS) stimulation. Mixed-effects models adjusted for HIV VL and VL-stratified analyses were performed.

PWH/OUD+ exhibited persistent immune dysregulation despite reductions in HIV VL. Plasma sCD163, sCD14, fractalkine, and I-TAC remained elevated, whereas TGF-β1 was reduced. OUD was associated with expansion of CD16⁺ monocytes and altered expression of CCR2, CD38, and CD11b. CD4⁺ and CD8⁺ T cells, NK cells, and B cells also exhibited persistent alterations in markers of activation, metabolism, and trafficking. Monocytes from PWH/OUD+ displayed attenuated cytokine responses following LPS stimulation.

OUD is associated with persistent systemic and cellular immune dysfunction in PWH despite ART-mediated viral suppression, supporting opioid exposure as an independent contributor to chronic immune dysregulation that may promote inflammation, immune dysfunction, and long-term HIV-associated comorbidities.