Eva-Maria Ratai1,2, Chan-Gyu Joo1,2,
Jeffrey Bombardier1, Robert Fell1, Julian He1,2,
Reza Hakimelahi1,2, Tricia Burdo3, Jennifer Campbell3,
Patrick Autissier3, Lakshmanan Annamalai4, Eliezer
Masliah5, Susan Westmoreland, 2,4, Kenneth Williams3,
Ramon Gilberto Gonzalez1,2
1Department of Radiology, A. A.
Martinos Center for Biomedical Imaging, Massachusetts General Hospital,
Charlestown, MA, United States; 2Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA,
United States; 3Biology Department, Boston College, Boston, MA,
United States; 4Division of Comparative Pathology, New England
Primate Research Center, Southborough, MA, United States; 5Department
of Neurosciences, University of California at San Diego, La Jolla, CA, United
States
HIV-associated
neurocognitive disorders continue to be a significant problem. Using the accelerated macaque model of
neuroAIDS in combination with in vivo MR spectroscopy minocycline was found
to be neuroprotective and able to reverse increased high energy metabolism,
most likely localized to glia. Evaluating our observations, clues into the
mechanisms underlying neuroprotection included reduction of microglial
activation, reductions of CSF and plasma viral loads during treatment, and a
reduction in a subset of circulating monocytes considered to be responsible
for viral infection of the CNS by cell trafficking mechanisms.