Margaret R. Lentz, Ph.D. 1, Mona A. Mohamed, M.D., Ph.D. 2, Mahaveer N. Degaonkar, Ph.D. 2, Hyun Kim, B.S. 1, Elkan Halpern, Ph.D. 1, Ned Sacktor, M.D. 3, Katherine Conant, M.D. 3, Peter B. Barker, D.Phil. 2, Martin G. Pomper, M.D., Ph.D. 2
1Departments of Neuroradiology and the A. A. Martinos Center for Biomedical Imaging, Massachusetts General Hospital, Charlestown, MA, USA; 2Russell H. Morgan Department of Radiology and Radiological Science, Johns Hopkins Medical Institutions, Baltimore, MD, USA; 3Department of Neurology, Johns Hopkins Medical Institutions, Baltimore, MD, USA
HIV-infected peripheral, monocyte/macrophages can permeate the blood-brain barrier and initiate a cascade of events which mediate neuronal injury. The purpose of this study was to explore the relationship between cognition, neuronal metabolism, and the macrophage maturation cytokine M-CSF (macrophage-colony stimulating factor) in HIV+ subjects who lacked immune control. An association between higher M-CSF and lower NAA levels was found in many brain regions, but faded with therapy usage and immune control, regardless of cognitive improvement. These data suggest that higher expression M-CSF facilitates widespread neuronal injury across the brain which may be monitored with MRSI.