Publication Abstract Display
Type: Published Abstract
Title: NeuroHIV and use of addictive substances.
Authors: Keltner J, Connolly C, Brown G, Atkinson JH, Ellis R
Year: 2015
Publication: 13th International Symposium on NeuroVirology
Volume: Issue: Pages:
Abstract:Despite modern antiretroviral therapy, HIV neuropathy affects approximately 50% of HIV subjects. The clinical expression of HIV neuropathy is highly variable: many individuals report few symptoms, but about half report distal neuropathic pain (DNP), making it one of the most prevalent, disabling and treatment-resistant complications of HIV disease. The presence and intensity of DNP is not fully explained by the degree of peripheral nerve damage. A better understanding of brain mechanisms for HIV DNP may help explain why some patients with HIV neuropathy report pain while the majority does not. Previously, we reported that more severe DNP was associated with smaller total cerebral cortical gray matter volumes. Here we present a voxel-based morphometric analysis that investigates which regional cortical volumes are smaller for subjects with DNP compared to subjects without DNP. We report that the left ventral posterior cingulate cortex is the only regional brain volume which is smaller for subjects with DNP compared to subjects without DNP (peak p = 0.017; t-score = 5.15; MNI coordinates x=-6, y=-54, z=20, cluster average t-score = 0.97). We discuss that smaller posterior cingulate cortex volume for subjects with DNP may indicate that DNP disrupts brain activity in the default mode network.

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