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Scholarly Works (3 results)

  • Thesis
  • Peer Reviewed
UC Irvine Electronic Theses and Dissertations (2022)

The COVID-19 pandemic has caused disruptions in the daily lives of many workers. These changes led to increased stress for workers. The effects of the pandemic on the mental health and behavior of the general population and workers are an important public health issue. Job stress has been associated with substance use in workers, specifically alcohol and tobacco use. Substance use has been studied in various populations throughout the pandemic, but there have been fewer studies specifically on marijuana use in workers. However, use of marijuana and cannabis products, in general, has been rising and cannabis is the third most used drug in the United States after alcohol and tobacco. We conducted a cross-sectional analysis of COVID-19-related job stressors and marijuana use in the prior month and the prior year. We utilized data from the California Health Interview Survey from 2020. Data from 10,365 Californian workers was assessed in this study. COVID-19-related reductions in work hours, lost jobs, and working from home were considered job stressors. Approximately 4.17% of the study population experienced job loss, 21.02% experienced a reduction in work hours, and 40.21% switched to working from home due to COVID-19. Logistic regression analyses were used to predict the odds of marijuana use within the past month and past year. COVID-19-related job stressors were statistically significantly related to marijuana use within the past month and the past year (p <0.05). These associations remained significant upon adjustment for covariates. Stratified analyses were then conducted to assess whether the associations varied by demographic and socioeconomic strata. Male workers had significant associations between COVID-19-related job stressors and marijuana use within one month and one year. COVID-19-related job loss and marijuana use were significantly associated for the Black and Hispanic groups and lower income groups. Working from home due to COVID-19 tended to be significantly associated with marijuana use in Whites, Asians, and Hispanics and in higher educational and income groups. Overall, associations between job stressors and marijuana use during COVID-19 were significant across Californian workers. This suggests that job stressors due to the COVID-19 pandemic may be related to marijuana use in workers. Our results warrant further investigation of how and why job stressors differentially impact demographic groups. Additionally, research on the burden of marijuana use on these groups and how it affects their relationships, health, and work can help to reveal the scope of the problem and develop mitigation strategies.

    Cover page: Associations between COVID-19-Related Job Stressors and Marijuana Use in Californian Adult WorkersCreative Commons 'BY-NC-ND' version 4.0 license
    • Article
    • Peer Reviewed
    UC San Diego Previously Published Works (2024)

    Purpose of review

    Cannabis may have beneficial anti-inflammatory effects in people with HIV (PWH); however, given this population's high burden of persisting neurocognitive impairment (NCI), clinicians are concerned they may be particularly vulnerable to the deleterious effects of cannabis on cognition. Here, we present a systematic scoping review of clinical and preclinical studies evaluating the effects of cannabinoid exposure on cognition in HIV.

    Recent findings

    Results revealed little evidence to support a harmful impact of cannabis use on cognition in HIV, with few eligible preclinical data existing. Furthermore, the beneficial/harmful effects of cannabis use observed on cognition were function-dependent and confounded by several factors (e.g., age, frequency of use). Results are discussed alongside potential mechanisms of cannabis effects on cognition in HIV (e.g., anti-inflammatory), and considerations are outlined for screening PWH that may benefit from cannabis interventions. We further highlight the value of accelerating research discoveries in this area by utilizing translatable cross-species tasks to facilitate comparisons across human and animal work.
      Cover page: The Impact of Cannabis Use on Cognition in People with HIV: Evidence of Function-Dependent Effects and Mechanisms from Clinical and Preclinical Studies
      • Article
      • Peer Reviewed
      UC San Diego Previously Published Works (2023)
      Although antiretroviral therapy (ART) has increased the quality of life and lifespan in people living with HIV (PWH), millions continue to suffer from the neurobehavioral effects of the virus. Additionally, the abuse of illicit drugs (methamphetamine in particular) is significantly higher in PWH compared to the general population, which may further impact their neurological functions. The HIV regulatory protein, Tat, has been implicated in the neurobehavioral impacts of HIV and is purported to inhibit dopamine transporter (DAT) function in a way similar to methamphetamine. Thus, we hypothesized that a combination of Tat expression and methamphetamine would exert synergistic deleterious effects on behavior and DAT expression. We examined the impact of chronic methamphetamine exposure on exploration in transgenic mice expressing human Tat (iTat) vs. their wildtype littermates using the behavioral pattern monitor (BPM). During baseline, mice exhibited sex-dependent differences in BPM behavior, which persisted through methamphetamine exposure, and Tat activation with doxycycline. We observed a main effect of methamphetamine, wherein exposure, irrespective of genotype, increased locomotor activity and decreased specific exploration. After doxycycline treatment, mice continued to exhibit drug-dependent alterations in locomotion, with no effect of Tat, or methamphetamine interactions. DAT levels were higher in wildtype, saline-exposed males compared to all other groups. These data support stimulant-induced changes of locomotor activity and exploration, and suggest that viral Tat and methamphetamine do not synergistically interact to alter these behaviors in mice. These findings are important for future studies attempting to disentangle the effect of substances that impact DAT on HAND-relevant behaviors using such transgenic animals.
        Cover page: iTat transgenic mice exhibit hyper-locomotion in the behavioral pattern monitor after chronic exposure to methamphetamine but are unaffected by Tat expression
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