title: Altered structural brain changes and neurocognitive performance in pediatric HIV.
abstract: Pediatric HIV patients often suffer with neurodevelopmental delay and subsequently cognitive impairment. While tissue injury in cortical and subcortical regions in the brain of adult HIV patients has been well reported there is sparse knowledge about these changes in perinatally HIV infected pediatric patients. We analyzed cortical thickness, subcortical volume, structural connectivity, and neurocognitive functions in pediatric HIV patients and compared with those of pediatric healthy controls. With informed consent, 34 perinatally infected pediatric HIV patients and 32 age and gender matched pediatric healthy controls underwent neurocognitive assessment and brain magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) on a 3 T clinical scanner. Altered cortical thickness, subcortical volumes, and abnormal neuropsychological test scores were observed in pediatric HIV patients. The structural network connectivity analysis depicted lower connection strengths, lower clustering coefficients, and higher path length in pediatric HIV patients than healthy controls. The network betweenness and network hubs in cortico-limbic regions were distorted in pediatric HIV patients. The findings suggest that altered cortical and subcortical structures and regional brain connectivity in pediatric HIV patients may contribute to deficits in their neurocognitive functions. Further, longitudinal studies are required for better understanding of the effect of HIV pathogenesis on brain structural changes throughout the brain development process under standard ART treatment.
authors.affiliation: Division of Translational Medicine, Research Branch, Sidra Medical and Research Center, Doha, Qatar.
authors.forename: Santosh K
authors.initials: SK
authors.lastname: Yadav
authors.affiliation: Department of Radiology and Imaging, Fortis Memorial Research Institute, Gurgaon, Delhi, India.
authors.forename: Rakesh K
authors.initials: RK
authors.lastname: Gupta
authors.affiliation: Department of Neurology, King George Medical University, Lucknow, India.
authors.forename: Ravindra K
authors.initials: RK
authors.lastname: Garg
authors.affiliation: Department of Microbiology, King George Medical University, Lucknow, India.
authors.forename: Vimala
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Venkatesh
authors.affiliation: Department of Radiology and Imaging, Fortis Memorial Research Institute, Gurgaon, Delhi, India.
authors.forename: Pradeep K
authors.initials: PK
authors.lastname: Gupta
authors.affiliation: Department of Neurology, King George Medical University, Lucknow, India.
authors.forename: Alok K
authors.initials: AK
authors.lastname: Singh
authors.affiliation: Division of Translational Medicine, Research Branch, Sidra Medical and Research Center, Doha, Qatar.
authors.forename: Sheema
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Hashem
authors.affiliation: Division of Translational Medicine, Research Branch, Sidra Medical and Research Center, Doha, Qatar.
authors.forename: Asma
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Al-Sulaiti
authors.affiliation: Department of Radiology, Sidra Medical and Research Center, Doha, Qatar.
authors.forename: Deepak
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Kaura
authors.affiliation: Division of Translational Medicine, Research Branch, Sidra Medical and Research Center, Doha, Qatar.
authors.forename: Ena
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Wang
authors.affiliation: Division of Translational Medicine, Research Branch, Sidra Medical and Research Center, Doha, Qatar.
authors.forename: Francesco M
authors.initials: FM
authors.lastname: Marincola
authors.affiliation: Division of Translational Medicine, Research Branch, Sidra Medical and Research Center, Doha, Qatar.
authors.forename: Mohammad
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Haris
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D001921:Brain / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging*; D001931:Brain Mapping; D015704:CD4 Antigens / Q000378:metabolism; D002648:Child; D003072:Cognition Disorders / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging* / Q000209:etiology*; D005260:Female; D015658:HIV Infections / Q000150:complications* / Q000378:metabolism; D006801:Humans; D021621:Imaging, Three-Dimensional; D008279:Magnetic Resonance Imaging; D008297:Male; D009415:Nerve Net / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging; D009434:Neural Pathways / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging; D009483:Neuropsychological Tests
chemical_list: D015704:CD4 Antigens
keywords: AIDS, acquired immunodeficiency syndrome; C, clustering coefficient; Cortical thickness; ELISA, enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay; FA, flip angel; FLAIR, fluid attenuation inversion recovery; FOV, field of view; FSPGR, fast spoiled gradient echo; GAT, graph-theoretical analysis toolbox; HIV, human immunodeficiency virus; Human immunodeficiency virus; L, characteristic path length; MRI, magnetic resonance imaging; Magnetic resonance imaging; Neurocognitive functions; RAKIT, revised Amsterdamse kinder intelligence; ROIs, regions of interest; SW, small-world index; Structural connectivity; Subcortical volume; TBM, tensor based morphometry; TE, echo time; TR, repetition time