No support for premature central nervous system aging in HIV-1 when measured by cerebrospinal fluid phosphorylated tau (p-tau)

• Published in: Virulence Vol. 8; no. 5; pp. 599 - 604
• Main Authors: Krut, Jan J., Price, Richard W., Zetterberg, Henrik, Fuchs, Dietmar, Hagberg, Lars, Yilmaz, Aylin, Cinque, Paola, Nilsson, Staffan, Gisslén, Magnus
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: United States Taylor & Francis 04.07.2017
• Subjects: Adult; Aging, Premature - diagnosis; Aging, Premature - etiology; Aging, Premature - physiopathology; AIDS Dementia Complex - cerebrospinal fluid; AIDS Dementia Complex - diagnosis; Antiretroviral Therapy, Highly Active; biomarker analysis; Biomarkers - cerebrospinal fluid; Brain - pathology; Brain - virology; cerebrospinal fluid; Cohort Studies; Cross-Sectional Studies; Female; HIV; HIV - isolation & purification; HIV Infections - complications; HIV Infections - drug therapy; HIV Infections - physiopathology; HIV-1 associated cognitive motor complex; Humans; Male; Middle Aged; Neopterin - cerebrospinal fluid; Neurosciences; Neurovetenskaper; Phosphorylation; Research Paper; Retrospective Studies; RNA, Viral - blood; RNA, Viral - cerebrospinal fluid; tau protein; tau Proteins - blood; tau Proteins - cerebrospinal fluid; tau Proteins - chemistry; HIV; HIV-1 associated cognitive motor complex; biomarker analysis; tau protein; cerebrospinal fluid
• ISSN: 2150-5594; 2150-5608; 2150-5608
• DOI: 10.1080/21505594.2016.1212155

Background: 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. Methods: 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). Results: 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 ). Conclusions: 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.