Original Article: http://doi.org/10.1186/1742-6405-11-7
- The human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) is an enveloped retrovirus that contains 2 copies of a single-stranded RNA genome.
- HIV causes the acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS) that is the last stage of HIV disease.
- HIV causes neurocognitive impairment possibly by transmigration through the blood brain barrier of activated T cells and infected monocytes triggering a cascade of inflammatory processes
- HIV encephalopathy, a severe form of neurocognitive impairment in children, has become less common since antiretroviral therapy (ART) became widely available.
- However, chronic stable cognitive and behavioral deficits remain, predicting academic impairments in school.
- Limited studies in US children have suggested that certain lymphocyte subsets may predict poorer cognition
- This study assesses the relationships between lymphocyte and monocyte subsets and intelligence quotient (IQ) scores in antiretroviral therapy (ART)-naive, HIV-infected Thai children without advanced HIV disease.
- Sixty-seven ART-naive Thai children with CD4 between 15-24% underwent cognitive testing by Weschler intelligence scale and had 13 cell subsets performed by flow cytometry including naive, memory and activated subsets of CD4+ and CD8+ T cells, activated and perivascular monocytes and B cells.
- Regression modelling with log10 cell count and cell percentage transformation was performed.
- High B cell counts and percentages were strongly associated with poorer FIQ, VIQ and PIQ scores.
- Prospective, long-term assessment of cell subsets and determination of relevant B cell subpopulations could help further elucidate associations between lymphocyte subsets and neurocognitive development.
Sources:
http://doi.org/10.1186/1742-6405-11-7
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