Chun-xia Li1, Xiaodong Zhang1,
Amelia Komery2, Francis J. Novembre2, James G. Herndon3
1Yerkes Imaging Center, Yerkes National
Primate Research Center, Emory University, Atlanta, GA,30329, United States; 2Divisions
of Microbiology and Immunology, Yerkes National Primate Research Center,
Emory University, Atlanta, GA,30322; 3Divisions of Neuroscience,
Yerkes National Primate Research Center, Emory University, Atlanta, GA,30322
The
regional cerebral blood flow (rCBF) measure has been proposed as a biomarker
for HIV-associated CNS damage. In this study we used the continuous arterial
spin labeled (CASL) MRI technique to quantitatively measure the longitudinal
pattern of rCBF change in the selected ROIs of Simian Immunovirus Virus
(SIV)-infected monkey model following infection. The finding indicates rCBF
in selected ROIs declined after the SIV inoculation resembling with the HIV+
patient, and the rCBF changes correlated well with the depletion of CD4,
which suggests CASL may be a surrogate biomarker for accessing the
progression of the disease and treatment development.