Monica Diaz, MD, assistant professor of neurology, and Eran Dayan, PhD, associate professor of radiology, received an NIH (National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke) grant to study: Brain structure and function and the CNS HIV reservoir in older people living with HIV.
People living with HIV (PWH) often exhibit a spectrum of cognitive, motor and mood symptoms, together referred to as HIV-associated neurocognitive impairment (HIV-NCI). HIV-NCI is estimated to affect over 40% of PWH and is more common as PWH age. HIV can enter the CNS within days of initial infection, and individuals with suppressed plasma viral loads might still have detectable HIV in their cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) for up to a decade, leading to inflammation within the CNS and subsequently HIV-NCI. Inflammation is believed to start very early in the disease process and precede overt clinical signs and symptoms of NCI.
Identifying biomarkers of neuroinflammation related to presence of HIV virus in the CNS could help detect PWH who are now experiencing the neuroinflammatory effects of HIV.