Chun-xia Li1, Xiaodong Zhang1,
Yingxia Li1, Amelia Komery2, Francis J. Novembre3,
James G. Herndon2
1Yerkes Imaging Center, Yerkes National
Primate Research Center, Emory University, Atlanta, GA,30329, United States; 2Divisions
of Microbiology and Immunology, Yerkes National Primate Research Center,
Emory University, Atlanta, GA,30322; 3Divisions of Neuroscience,
Yerkes National Primate Research Center, Emory University, Atlanta, GA,30322
DTI
has been proposed as a quantitative marker of the neurological status of HIV+
patients. In this study, DTI imaging was used to longitudinally detect white
matter abnormalities in whole brain and specific regions of Simian
immunodeficiency virus (SIV)-infected monkeys, a reduction in FA and an
increase in MD were observed evidently after viral inoculation and
whole-brain FA changes correlated significantly with CD4 depletion. Findings
from this investigation support the use of DTI for measurement of HIV
associated neuropathologic changes. Further longitudinal study is needed to
investigate the validation of DTI measures as a marker for disease
progression.
Keywords