Abstract
Background: HIV-1 Tat protein is implicated in HIV-neuropathogenesis. Tat C31S polymorphism (TatCS) has been associated with milder neuropathology in vitro and in animal models but this has not been addressed in a cohort of HIV-infected adults or children. Methods: HIV viral load (VL) in plasma and cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) were determined and plasma HIV tat gene was sequenced. Neurodevelopmental assessment was performed using Bayley Scales of Infant Development III (BSID-III), with scores standardized to Malawian norms. The association between TatCS and BSID-III scores was evaluated using multivariate linear regression. Results: Neurodevelopmental assessment and HIV tat genotyping were available for 33 children. Mean age was 19.4 (SD 7.1) months, mean log VL was 5.9 copies/mL (SD 0.1) in plasma and 3.9 copies/mL (SD 0.9) in CSF. The prevalence of TatCC was 27 %. Z-scores for BSID-III subtests ranged from - 1.3 to - 3.9. TatCC was not associated with higher BSID-III z-scores. Conclusions: The hypothesis of milder neuropathology in individuals infected with HIV TatCS was not confirmed in this small cohort of Malawian children. Future studies of tat genotype and neurocognitive disorder should be performed using larger sample sizes and investigate if this finding is due to differences in HIV neuropathogenesis between children and adults.
Original language | English (US) |
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Article number | 38 |
Journal | Behavioral and Brain Functions |
Volume | 11 |
Issue number | 1 |
DOIs | |
State | Published - Dec 17 2015 |
Keywords
- Dicysteine motif
- Encephalopathy
- HIV-1
- HIV-1 subtype C
- Neurodevelopment
- Tat
ASJC Scopus subject areas
- Cognitive Neuroscience
- Biological Psychiatry
- Behavioral Neuroscience