Margaret R. Lentz, Ph.D. 1, Mona A. Mohamed, M.D., Ph.D. 2, Mahaveer N. Degaonkar, Ph.D. 2, Vallent Lee, B.A. 1, Hyun Kim, B.S. 1, Elkan Halpern, Ph.D. 1, Ned Sacktor, M.D. 3, Ola Selnes, Ph.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
Longitudinal magnetic resonance and cognition studies are lacking with respect
to the effects of anti-retroviral therapy (ART) use in chronically HIV-infected
subjects, especially those with HIV-associated cognitive impairment. An NAA
factor (previously determined to be predictive of dementia) was found to
improve in HIV-infected subjects after 3 and 10 months of ART, suggesting a
reprieve of neuronal dysfunction. However, glial metabolism, represented by a
choline factor, and cognitive impairment, remained unchanged. These results
suggest that the rate of recovery of cognitive function is slower than that of
neuronal metabolism, perhaps due to persistent low-level
infection/inflammation.