HIV / AIDS

Swedish Study Confirms Brain Is Reservoir for HIV

Below is the text of a recent media advisory from the University of Gothenburg describing the research.

HIV Virus Hides in the Brain

Gothenburg -- August 23, 2010 -- Studies of the spinal fluid of patients given anti-HIV drugs have resulted in new findings suggesting that the brain can act as a hiding place for the HIV virus. Around 10% of patients showed traces of the virus in their spinal fluid but not in their blood -- a larger proportion than previously realized, reveals a thesis from the University of Gothenburg, Sweden.

We now have effective anti-HIV drugs that can stop the immune system from being compromised and prevent AIDS. Although these drugs effectively prevent the virus from multiplying, the HIV virus also infects the brain and can cause damage if the infection is not treated.

"Antiviral treatment in the brain is complicated by a number of factors, partly because it is surrounded by a protective barrier that affects how well medicines get in," says Arvid Eden, doctor and researcher at the Institute of Biomedicine at the Sahlgrenska Academy. "This means that the brain can act as a reservoir where treatment of the virus may be less effective."

The thesis includes a study of 15 patients who had been effectively medicated for several years. 60% of them showed signs of inflammation in their spinal fluid, albeit at lower levels than without treatment.

"In another study of around 70 patients who had also received anti-HIV drugs, we found HIV in the spinal fluid of around 10% of the patients, even though the virus was not measurable in the blood, which is a significantly higher proportion than previously realized," explains Eden.

The results of both studies would suggest that current HIV treatment cannot entirely suppress the effects of the virus in the brain, although it is not clear whether the residual inflammation or small quantities of virus in the spinal fluid in some of the patients entail a risk of future complications.

"In my opinion, we need to take into account the effects in the brain when developing new drugs and treatment strategies for HIV infection," says Eden.

HIV, human immunodeficiency virus, belongs to the retrovirus family and takes two forms, HIV-1 and HIV-2, which can be transmitted through blood, semen and other secretions and bodily fluids. In the acute phase, patients suffer from fever, swollen lymph glands and rashes. These symptoms do recede, but AIDS develops after a long period of infection. Attempts to produce an HIV vaccine have been ongoing since the 1980s, but have yet to be successful.

8/31/10

References

A Eden. HIV Persistence and Viral Reservoirs. Department of Infectious Diseases, Institute of Biomedicine, Sahlgrenska Academy, University of Gothenburg. Thesis. 2010.

A Eden, LM Andersson, O Andersson, and others. Differential effects of efavirenz, lopinavir/r, and atazanavir/r on the initial viral decay rate in treatment naive HIV-1-infected patients. AIDS Research and Human Retroviruses 26(5): 533-540. May 2010.

Other Source

University of Gothenburg. HIV Virus Hides in the Brain. Press release. August 23, 2010.