Abstract #3110

Infection with HIV and HCV Is Associated with Neurometabolic Compromise: A 3T Magnetic Resonance Spectroscopy Study

Rajakumar Nagarajan¹, April Thames², M.Albert Thomas¹, Manoj K. Sarma¹, Tim Arentsen³, Sapna Patel², Elyse Singer⁴, Charles H. Hinkin²

¹Radiological Sciences, University of California Los Angeles, Los Angeles, CA, United States; ²UCLA Department of Psychiatry; ³West Los Angeles VA; ⁴UCLA Department of Neurology

Hepatitis C virus (HCV) can damage not only the liver but also the brain. HCV infection is more serious in persons with co-infection human immunodeficiency virus (HIV). Magnetic resonance spectroscopic Imaging (MRSI) enables the noninvasive measurement of biochemical information in vivo. We have evaluated the two-dimensional (2D) MRSI using a 3T MRI/MRS scanner and the LC model quantitation of metabolites. Our pilot findings demonstrate significantly decreased N-acetylaspartate (NAA) and increased choline in the HCV patients and decreased glutamate-glutamine (Glx) in the co-infected patients compared to healthy controls.