title: No support for premature central nervous system aging in HIV-1 when measured by cerebrospinal fluid phosphorylated tau (p-tau).
abstract: The prevalence of neurocognitive deficits are reported to be high in HIV-1 positive patients, even with suppressive antiretroviral treatment, and it has been suggested that HIV can cause accelerated aging of the brain. In this study we measured phosphorylated tau (p-tau) in cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) as a potential marker for premature central nervous system (CNS) aging. P-tau increases with normal aging but is not affected by HIV-associated neurocognitive disorders.
  
  
  
  With a cross-sectional retrospective design, p-tau, total tau (t-tau), neopterin and HIV-RNA were measured in CSF together with plasma HIV-RNA and blood CD4+T-cells of 225 HIV-infected patients <50 y of age, subdivided into 3 groups: untreated neuroasymptomatic (NA) (n = 145), on suppressive antiretroviral treatment (cART) (n = 49), and HIV-associated dementia (HAD) (n = 31). HIV-negative healthy subjects served as controls (n = 79).
  
  
  
  P-tau was not significantly higher in any HIV-infected group compared to HIV-negative controls. Significant increases in t-tau were found as expected in patients with HAD compared to NA, cART, and control groups (p < 0.001 ).
  
  
  
  P-tau was not higher in HIV-infected patients compared to uninfected controls, thus failing to support a role for premature or accelerated brain aging in HIV infection.
authors.affiliation: a Department of Infectious Diseases , Institute of Biomedicine, University of Gothenburg , Gothenburg , Sweden.
authors.forename: Jan J
authors.initials: JJ
authors.lastname: Krut
authors.affiliation: b Department of Neurology , University of California San Francisco , San Francisco , CA , USA.
authors.forename: Richard W
authors.initials: RW
authors.lastname: Price
authors.affiliation: c Department of Psychiatry and Neurochemistry , Institute of Neuroscience and Physiology, the Sahlgrenska Academy at the University of Gothenburg , Gothenburg , Sweden.|d UCL Institute of Neurology , London , UK.
authors.forename: Henrik
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Zetterberg
authors.affiliation: e Division of Biological Chemistry , Biocenter, Innsbruck Medical University , Innsbruck , Austria.
authors.forename: Dietmar
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Fuchs
authors.affiliation: a Department of Infectious Diseases , Institute of Biomedicine, University of Gothenburg , Gothenburg , Sweden.
authors.forename: Lars
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Hagberg
authors.affiliation: a Department of Infectious Diseases , Institute of Biomedicine, University of Gothenburg , Gothenburg , Sweden.
authors.forename: Aylin
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Yilmaz
authors.affiliation: f Clinic of Infectious Diseases , San Raffaele Hospital , Milan , Italy.
authors.forename: Paola
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Cinque
authors.affiliation: g Department of Mathematical Sciences , Chalmers University of Technology , Gothenburg , Sweden.
authors.forename: Staffan
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Nilsson
authors.affiliation: a Department of Infectious Diseases , Institute of Biomedicine, University of Gothenburg , Gothenburg , Sweden.
authors.forename: Magnus
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Gisslén
mesh_terms: D015526:AIDS Dementia Complex / Q000134:cerebrospinal fluid / Q000175:diagnosis; D000328:Adult; D019588:Aging, Premature / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000209:etiology / Q000503:physiopathology*; D023241:Antiretroviral Therapy, Highly Active; D015415:Biomarkers / Q000134:cerebrospinal fluid; D001921:Brain / Q000473:pathology / Q000821:virology; D015331:Cohort Studies; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D005260:Female; D006678:HIV / Q000302:isolation & purification; D015658:HIV Infections / Q000150:complications* / Q000188:drug therapy / Q000503:physiopathology*; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D019798:Neopterin / Q000134:cerebrospinal fluid; D010766:Phosphorylation; D012367:RNA, Viral / Q000097:blood / Q000134:cerebrospinal fluid; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D016875:tau Proteins / Q000097:blood / Q000134:cerebrospinal fluid* / Q000737:chemistry
chemical_list: D015415:Biomarkers; D012367:RNA, Viral; D016875:tau Proteins; D019798:Neopterin
keywords: HIV; HIV-1 associated cognitive motor complex; biomarker analysis; cerebrospinal fluid; tau protein