title: Clinical features and preliminary studies of virological correlates of neurocognitive impairment among HIV-infected individuals in Nigeria.
abstract: In Nigeria, the incidence and prevalence of human immunodeficiency virus (HIV)-related neurocognitive impairment (NCI) are unknown and there currently exists little information related to the viral correlates rates of NCI. Therefore, studies were performed to examine the potential utility of applying an established neuropsychological (NP) screening battery and detailed NP testing to detect NCI and correlations with functional impairment and the presence of specific viral signatures among infected subjects. A total of 60 HIV-1 seropositive antiretroviral-naive individuals and 56 seronegative control subjects were administered the International HIV Dementia Scale (IHDS) and assessed for functional impairment using the Karnofsky performance status scale. Fifteen HIV-infected patients and 11 controls were also administered a detailed NP battery. Blood samples from eight infected subjects, three with evidence of NCI, were obtained for molecular analysis of HIV-1 strain. Unadjusted scores on the IHDS showed that, using a recommended total score cutoff of 10, 28.8% of the HIV-1 seropositive and 16.0% of seropositive individuals scored abnormally. Results from testing using the full NP battery showed that, overall, the HIV seropositive group performed worse than the seronegative group, with effect sizes spanning from small (0.25 on the trail making test A) to large (0.82 on action fluency), and an average effect size across the battery of 0.45, which approaches that which has been recorded in other international settings. Sequencing of partial pol amplicons from viral isolates revealed that two of three patients with NCI were infected with subtype G virus and 1 with the circulating recombinant form (CRF)02_AG; all four individuals without NCI were infected with CRF_02AG. These studies demonstrate the utility of the IHDS in identifying cognitive impairment among HIV infected individuals in Nigeria. Future studies aimed at examining the burden of NCI among the population of individuals with HIV-1 infection in Nigeria and which assess the virologic correlates will contribute to the evolving understanding of the pathogenetic factors that underlie this disorder.
authors.affiliation: Department of Neurology, University of Maryland School of Medicine, Baltimore, MD, USA. wroyal@som.umaryland.edu
authors.forename: Walter
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Royal
authors.forename: Mariana
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Cherner
authors.forename: Jean
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Carr
authors.forename: Abdulrazaq G
authors.initials: AG
authors.lastname: Habib
authors.forename: Abimbola
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Akomolafe
authors.forename: Alashl'e
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Abimiku
authors.forename: Manhattan
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Charurat
authors.forename: John
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Farley
authors.forename: Akinwande
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Oluyemisi
authors.forename: Ibrahim
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Mamadu
authors.forename: Joyce
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Johnson
authors.forename: Ronald
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Ellis
authors.forename: J Allen
authors.initials: JA
authors.lastname: McCutchan
authors.forename: J Allen
authors.initials: JA
authors.lastname: McCutchen
authors.forename: Igor
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Grant
authors.forename: William A
authors.initials: WA
authors.lastname: Blattner
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D003072:Cognition Disorders / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000209:etiology* / Q000821:virology; D016172:DNA Fingerprinting; D005260:Female; D015658:HIV Infections / Q000150:complications / Q000523:psychology*; D018023:HIV Seronegativity; D006679:HIV Seropositivity; D015497:HIV-1 / Q000235:genetics* / Q000302:isolation & purification; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D009483:Neuropsychological Tests; D009549:Nigeria / Q000453:epidemiology; D012107:Research Design; D012307:Risk Factors; D013647:Task Performance and Analysis; D019562:Viral Load