TOPLINE:

Cannabis use showed no significant association with ECG abnormalities in people with HIV infection, although women had higher odds of abnormal ECG findings than men. Men with HIV infection had higher odds of ECG abnormalities than those without HIV infection.

METHODOLOGY:

• Researchers examined data from the Multicenter AIDS Cohort Study/Women’s Interagency HIV Study Combined Cohort Study to assess the association between cannabis use and ECG abnormalities in people with or without HIV infection between 2007 and 2017.
• Overall, 3610 participants were enrolled, of whom 2272 had HIV infection and 992 reported cannabis use.
• They identified cannabis use through self-reported questionnaires at ECG visits, with participants categorized as current users based on any use of cannabis since their previous visit.
• ECG measurements were performed once per participant, and evidence of myocardial infarction and other cardiac abnormalities was evaluated.

TAKEAWAY:

• The use of cannabis showed no significant association with ECG evidence of myocardial infarction (odds ratio [OR], 1.02; 95% CI, 0.82-1.26) or other abnormalities (OR, 1.02; 95% CI, 0.80-1.32).
• Women had 30% higher odds of ECG evidence of myocardial infarction than men (OR, 1.30; 95% CI, 0.59-0.84).
• Each 5-year increase in age was associated with higher odds of ECG evidence of myocardial infarction or other abnormalities (OR, 1.10; 95% CI, 1.00-1.16), and people with HIV infection had higher odds of ECG evidence of other abnormalities than those without HIV infection (OR, 1.25; 95% CI, 1.03-1.51).
• Among men, older age and HIV infection increased the odds of evidence of myocardial infarction and other abnormalities, whereas in women, only older age did so.

IN PRACTICE:

“By understanding dose-response relationships between cannabis use and CVD [cardiovascular disease], we can better elucidate mechanisms whereby its use may have differential effects on cardiovascular risk,” the authors wrote.

SOURCE:

The study was led by Michaela E. Larson, MPH, University of Miami Miller School of Medicine, Miami. It was published online on October 23, 2025, in Journal of Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndromes.

LIMITATIONS:

This study could not evaluate the association between patterns of cannabis use and routes of use. The authors did not determine levels of cannabinoid metabolites, particularly tetrahydrocannabinol and cannabidiol, which may differentially affect cardiovascular risk. Additionally, the cross-sectional design prevented the assessment of longitudinal effects of cannabis use on ECG findings, and self-reported cannabis use may have been misclassified.

DISCLOSURES:

The study was funded primarily by the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute, with additional co-funding from multiple National Institutes of Health organizations. No explicit conflicts of interest were declared by the authors. 

This article was created using several editorial tools, including AI, as part of the process. Human editors reviewed this content before publication.