Combined effects of HIV, age and race on inflammation-related brain abnormalitie

项目总结（见说明）： 尽管高效抗逆转录病毒疗法（HAART）成功地降低了HIV病毒载量， 显著增加预期寿命，艾滋病毒感染（艾滋病毒阳性）患者患慢性 进行性疾病，包括艾滋病毒相关的痴呆症。由于艾滋病毒阳性患者往往 发展这些条件早于艾滋病毒未感染（艾滋病毒阴性）的个人，它已被假设 HIV病毒的存在加速了终末器官的衰老。然而，人们对 艾滋病病毒导致大脑过早衰老磁共振成像（MRI）显示， 在没有明显疾病的老年人和艾滋病毒阳性者中，即使在坦白之前， 出现认知和运动障碍。然而，病毒和年龄对 大脑的宏观和微观结构特征尚未被研究。慢性炎症是 被认为是年龄和艾滋病毒相关的大脑结构变化的主要贡献者。然而， HIV和年龄对大脑宏观和微观结构的综合影响中的炎症仍然存在 替补演员此外，尽管非洲裔美国人在感染艾滋病毒的人中所占比例最大， 艾滋病毒，并在与炎症相关的慢性疾病的风险较高，很少有研究 直接比较了HIV相关大脑异常的种族差异。因此，本项目的总体目标 是研究艾滋病毒，年龄和种族对大脑结构的综合影响，以确定 炎症在这些影响中的作用，并研究HIV感染者炎症相关的脑异常之间的关系。 认知和运动障碍。

PROJECT SUMMARY (See instructions): Although highly-active anti-retroviral therapy (HAART) successfully reduces viral load in HIV and dramatically increases life expectancy, HIV-infected (HIV-positive) patients are at higher risk for chronic progressive medical conditions including HIV-associated dementia. Since HIV-positive patients tend to develop these conditions sooner than HIV-uninfected (HIV-negative) individuals, it has been hypothesized that the presence of the HIV virus accelerates end-organ senescence. Little is known, however, about premature brain senescence in HIV. Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) has demonstrated structural brain abnormalities in older individuals without overt disease and in HIV-positive persons, even before frank cognitive and motor impairments emerge. However, the combined effects of the virus and age on the macro- and micro-structural characteristics of the brain have not been investigated. Chronic inflammation is thought to be a major contributor to age- and HIV-related structural brain changes. However, the role of inflammation in the combined effects of HIV and age on the macro- and micro-structure of the brain remains understudied. Further, although African Americans represent the largest proportion of those infected with HIV, and are at higher risk for chronic medical conditions associated with inflammation, few studies have directly compared racial differences in HIV-related brain abnormalities. Thus, the overall goal of this project is to investigate the combined effects of HIV, age and race on brain structure, to determine the role of inflammation in these effects, and to study the association of inflammation-related brain abnormalities in HIV to cognitive and motor impairments.