{"id":50250,"date":"2016-09-19T14:56:22","date_gmt":"2016-09-20T00:56:22","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.hawaii.edu\/news\/?p=50250"},"modified":"2020-03-13T15:42:21","modified_gmt":"2020-03-14T01:42:21","slug":"researchers-find-potential-signature-of-cognitive-function-in-people-living-with-hiv","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.hawaii.edu\/news\/2016\/09\/19\/researchers-find-potential-signature-of-cognitive-function-in-people-living-with-hiv\/","title":{"rendered":"Researchers find potential signature of cognitive function in people living with HIV"},"content":{"rendered":"Reading time: <\/span> 2<\/span> minutes<\/span><\/span>
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UH<\/abbr> Mānoa researchers Lishomwa Ndhlovu and Michael Corley<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

University of Â鶹´«Ã½<\/span><\/a> researchers have identified a unique epigenetic footprint in specific types of immune cells from blood that can identify individuals with HIV<\/abbr> that have a range of impairments in cognitive function.<\/p>\n

Reliable biomarkers such as that identified by the researchers offer insight into how HIV associated cognitive impairment develops but also promises improved diagnostic testing and improved treatment decisions.<\/p>\n

The findings are published in the September 2016 issue of Nature Scientific Reports<\/a><\/em> (PDF<\/abbr><\/small>) by University of Â鶹´«Ã½<\/span> at Mānoa<\/a> scientists Lishomwa Ndhlovu<\/a><\/strong> and Alika Maunakea<\/a><\/strong> at the John A. Burns School of Medicine<\/a> (JABSOM) and collaborators at the University of Â鶹´«Ã½<\/span> at Mānoa and the University of California San Francisco<\/a>.<\/p>\n

“These results offer the first significant window into the mechanisms driving HIV<\/abbr>-related brain damage and how to track the disease,” said Ndhlovu, an associate professor in the Department of Tropical Medicine<\/a>, JABSOM<\/abbr>.<\/p>\n

Combination antiretroviral therapies have improved HIV<\/abbr> survival. If started early and taken daily for life, antiretroviral therapies can result in fewer non-AIDS<\/abbr> related complications. However, HIV<\/abbr> still impacts the brain. Around 40 percent of individuals even on antiretroviral therapy still suffer HIV<\/abbr>-related neurocognitive disorders that can affect living activities.<\/p>\n

It has long been suspected that changes to cells of the monocyte\/macrophage lineage, a type of immune cell, influence the development of cognitive impairment in HIV<\/abbr>. Since HIV<\/abbr> infection itself alters epigenetic processes in the immune system, the research team wondered whether a distinct DNA<\/abbr> methylation profile, a major epigenetic modification where methyl groups are added to DNA<\/abbr>, occurs in those with HIV<\/abbr> associated-cognitive impairment and whether it exists in distinct immune cell populations from the blood.<\/p>\n

By evaluating DNA<\/abbr> methylation, the researchers discovered differences in gene networks and gene expression linked to the central nervous system and interactions with HIV<\/abbr> that appeared uniquely in monocytes of HIV infected study participants with cognitive impairment.<\/p>\n

“Strikingly, further analysis showed a strong association between DNA<\/abbr> methylation levels of these markers in monocytes and neuropsychological test function, measured using a composite score of multiple cognitive domains” said Maunakea, an assistant professor in JABSOM<\/abbr>’s Department of Native Hawaiian Health<\/a> and co-senior author of the study.<\/p>\n

\"researcher
Michael Corley<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

According to Michael Corley<\/strong>, a junior researcher in JABSOM<\/abbr>’s Department of Native Hawaiian Health and lead author of the study, the field of epigenetics has ushered in a new era of discovery in immunology and neuroscience. “Combined with the advancement of \n

Currently there is no treatment for individuals with HIV<\/abbr> associated cognitive impairment. “The advancement in epigenetic therapeutics also affords promising new interventions that should be considered for the management of HIV<\/abbr> associated cognitive impairment, provided they are selective to the appropriate immune cell target,” added Ndhlovu.<\/p>\n

“There is still much we need to understand about how HIV<\/abbr> affects the brain and several findings from this study are highly relevant to this field of neuroAIDS<\/abbr>,” said Ndhlovu.<\/p>\n

—By Tina Shelton<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

UH<\/abbr> researchers identify a unique footprint in specific types of immune cells from blood that can identify individuals with HIV<\/abbr> that have impairments in cognitive function.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":16,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[30],"tags":[993,31,242,429,9],"class_list":["post-50250","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-research","tag-hivaids","tag-john-a-burns-school-of-medicine","tag-native-hawaiian-health","tag-tropical-medicine-and-medical-microbiology","tag-uh-manoa","entry","has-media"],"aioseo_notices":[],"aioseo_head":"\n\t\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t