Rate and severity of HIV-associated dementia (HAD): correlations with Gp41 and iNOS.
BACKGROUND
Fifteen to thirty percent of AIDS patients develop some type of neurologic disorder during the course of their illness and the vast majority of these neurologic disorders will be HIV-associated dementia (HAD). These patients can exhibit varying degrees of severity and rates of progression of HAD. Neuropathologic variables that are associated with the rate of progression of HAD are not known.


METHODS
Tissue was collected at autopsy from the Johns Hopkins University HIV Neurology Program. Seventy-one AIDS patients of this prospectively characterized population were followed until death to obtain information on dementia severity and the rate of neurological progression. Immunoblot analysis of immunological nitric oxide synthase (iNOS), HAM56, gp41, p24, gp120, and beta-tubulin was performed and the levels of iNOS, HAM56, gp41, and p24 were normalized to beta-tubulin and analyzed for significance by means of the Kruskal-Wallis test for multiple groups.


RESULTS
We have identified unique groups within this spectrum and designated them slow, moderate, and rapid progressors. Slow and moderate progressors' neurological progression occurs over a course of months to years, whereas the rapid progressors' disease shows rapid increases in severity over weeks to months. In the present study we demonstrate that the severity and rate of progression of HAD correlates significantly with levels of the HIV-1 coat protein, gp41, iNOS, and HAM56, a marker of microglial/macrophage activation.


CONCLUSIONS
The severity and rate of progression of HAD correlates with indices of immune activation as well as levels of iNOS and gp41. There appears to be a threshold effect in which high levels of gp41, iNOS, and immune activation are particularly associated with severe (Memorial Sloan-Kettering score 3 to 4) and rapidly progressive HAD.
Adamson
D C
DC
Department of Neurology, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Baltimore, Maryland, USA.
McArthur
J C
JC
Dawson
T M
TM
Dawson
V L
VL
D015526:AIDS Dementia Complex / Q000378:metabolism* / Q000473:pathology*; D000163:Acquired Immunodeficiency Syndrome / Q000473:pathology / Q000503:physiopathology; D000328:Adult; D002540:Cerebral Cortex / Q000378:metabolism*; D002555:Cerebrospinal Fluid / Q000737:chemistry; D018450:Disease Progression; D016655:HIV Core Protein p24 / Q000032:analysis / Q000378:metabolism; D015699:HIV Envelope Protein gp120 / Q000032:analysis / Q000378:metabolism; D015700:HIV Envelope Protein gp41 / Q000378:metabolism*; D006801:Humans; D015151:Immunoblotting; D008264:Macrophages / Q000276:immunology / Q000378:metabolism; D008875:Middle Aged; D019001:Nitric Oxide Synthase / Q000378:metabolism*; D052247:Nitric Oxide Synthase Type II; D011237:Predictive Value of Tests; D012720:Severity of Illness Index
D016655:HIV Core Protein p24; D015699:HIV Envelope Protein gp120; D015700:HIV Envelope Protein gp41; C496319:NOS2 protein, human; D019001:Nitric Oxide Synthase; D052247:Nitric Oxide Synthase Type II