title: Human immunodeficiency virus and the central nervous system.
abstract: Neurological disease frequently complicates HIV-1 infection. In addition to opportunistic infections, a syndrome of combined cognitive and motor impairment, referred to as the AIDS dementia complex, has been recognized. While presumed to relate to HIV-1 itself, the pathogenesis of this syndrome remains uncertain. Because of the limited extent of productive brain HIV-1 infection in many cases, and because such infection involves macrophages and microglia rather than cells of neuroectodermal origin, current speculation centers on indirect mechanisms of brain injury including virus- or cell-coded neurotoxins. We review clinical and laboratory studies and also describe models of the interaction of HIV-1 and immune responses that might account for brain injury.
authors.affiliation: Department of Neurology, University of Minnesota, Minnesota, Minneapolis 55455.
authors.forename: D C
authors.initials: DC
authors.lastname: Spencer
authors.forename: R W
authors.initials: RW
authors.lastname: Price
mesh_terms: D002493:Central Nervous System Diseases / Q000382:microbiology*; D015658:HIV Infections / Q000382:microbiology*; D006801:Humans