Cannabidiol prevents mucosal HIV-1 transmission by targeting Langerhans cells, dendritic cells, macrophages and T-cells

Caio César Barbosa Bomfim, Hugo Génin, Jammy Mariotton, Isabelle Matias, Daniela Cota, Nicolas Barry Delongchamps, Marc Zerbib, Morgane Bomsel, Yonatan Ganor
Mucosal Immunology. 2026-06-01; 19(3): 100332
DOI: 10.1016/j.mucimm.2026.03.006

1. Mucosal Immunol. 2026 Jun;19(3):100332. doi: 10.1016/j.mucimm.2026.03.006.
Epub 2026 Apr 7.

Cannabidiol prevents mucosal HIV-1 transmission by targeting Langerhans cells,
dendritic cells, macrophages and T-cells.

Barbosa Bomfim CC(1), Génin H(1), Mariotton J(1), Matias I(2), Cota D(2), Barry
Delongchamps N(3), Zerbib M(3), Bomsel M(1), Ganor Y(4).

Author information:
(1)Laboratory of Mucosal Entry, Persistence and Neuro-Immune Control of HIV-1
and Other Viruses, Cochin Institute, Paris, France; Université Paris Cité,
Institut Cochin, INSERM U1016, CNRS UMR8104, F-75014 Paris, France.
(2)University of Bordeaux, INSERM, Neurocentre Magendie, U1215, F-33000
Bordeaux, France.
(3)Urology Service, GH Cochin-St Vincent de Paul, Paris, France.
(4)Laboratory of Mucosal Entry, Persistence and Neuro-Immune Control of HIV-1
and Other Viruses, Cochin Institute, Paris, France; Université Paris Cité,
Institut Cochin, INSERM U1016, CNRS UMR8104, F-75014 Paris, France. Electronic
address: .

HIV-1 transmission depends on the structure and immune cell composition of
mucosal epithelia. Transmission mechanisms involve direct infection of CD4+
T-cells or macrophages, and indirect viral transfer to CD4+ T-cells from
Langerhans cells (LCs) or dendritic cells (DCs). LCs-mediated HIV-1 transfer is
inhibited by the neuropeptide calcitonin gene-related peptide (CGRP), due to
upstream activation in LCs of the transient receptor potential vanilloid 1
(TRPV1) ion channel. Herein, we investigated the potential anti-HIV-1roles of
cannabidiol (CBD), the non-psychoactive compound in marijuana, which has
well-described immunosuppressive functions and principally activates TRPV1 over
its cognate CB1 and CB2 receptors. We found that via TRPV1 activation,
CBDinhibitsin-vitroinfection of mucosal HIV-1 cellular targets. Specifically,
CBD inhibits macrophages HIV-1 direct infection, and CD4+ T-cells HIV-1 direct
infection or upon viral transfer from LCsand DCs. Moreover, inhibition of
macrophages infection and LCs-mediated HIV-1 transfer involves secreted
CGRP.Importantly, CBD also blocks early events of HIV-1 transmission ex-vivo in
human inner foreskin tissues, namely formation of epidermal LC-T-cell conjugates
and resulting CD4+ T-cells infection. Altogether, CBD inhibits infection of all
HIV-1 cellular targets, and commercial CBD products might be repositioned as
novel HIV-1 pre-exposure prophylaxis, namely ‘CBD PrEP’.

DOI: 10.1016/j.mucimm.2026.03.006
PMID: 42014233 [Indexed for MEDLINE]

Conflict of interest statement: Declaration of competing interest The authors
declare the following financial interests/personal relationships which may be
considered as potential competing interests: Yonatan Ganor reports financial
support was provided by SIDACTION. If there are other authors, they declare that
they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that
could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper.