1Radiology,
New York University School of Medicine, New York, NY, United States; 2Neuroradiology,
Massachusetts General Hospital, Athinoula A. Martinos Center for Biomedical
Imaging, Charlestown, MA, United States; 3Radiology, New York
University, New York, NY, United States
It is not known in HIV-associated neurocognitive disorders whether subcortical injury is characterized by damage to neurons, glia, or both. These may be monitored via proton MR spectroscopy (1H-MRS) observed markers: N-acetylaspartate (NAA) for neurons, myo-inositol (mI) for glia, creatine (Cr) and choline (Cho). We test in simian immunodeficiency virus-infected rhesus macaques, an excellent model system, whether infection produces: (a) decreases in NAA; and/or (b) increases in mI, Cho, and Cr by performing multivoxel 1H-MRS (0.125 cm3 spatial resolution) in five macaques before and after infection. We found glial activation in subcortical regions, but overall neuronal health was not compromised.