Does Cannabis Use Reduce Cirrhosis Risk in HCV Patients?

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In an observation of a large pool of patients with hepatitis C virus (HCV), cannabis users had a lower prevalence of liver cirrhosis, more favorable health status at hospital discharge, and lower total health care costs than non-users.

Adeyinka Adejumo, lead author of the study and graduate student at the University of Massachusetts Intercampus Program in Biomedical Engineering and Biotechnology, and colleagues indicated the findings add to a relationship between cannabis use and HCV that have been “controversial, and remains unclear.”

Although there have been reports of detrimental effects of cannabis in HCV infected individuals, Adejumo and colleagues note more recent preclinical and population evidence of cannabis modulating inflammatory and fibrotic processes in the liver, plus a lone report of reduced steatosis.
The study, “Reduced Incidence and Better Liver Disease Outcomes among Chronic HCV Infected Patients Who Consume Cannabis,” was published online in the Canadian Journal of Gastroenterology and Hepatology.