Quantitative MRI Study of Non-Cognitively Impaired HIV Patients Shows No Detectable Neurodegeneration

Nicholas G. Dowell¹, Emilie Elliot², Martin Fisher², Becky I. Haynes¹, Roshani Patel², Paul S. Tofts¹

It is known that HIV infects the central nervous system (CNS) early after infection. If untreated, CNS infection results in significant neurocogitive deficit (e.g. AIDS dementia complex). Although HIV treatment such as HAART controls peripheral viral replication there is some doubt whether the drug penetrates the CNS. We use Diffusion Tensor Imaging, Magnetization Transfer Ratio and MR Spectroscopy to identify whether subtle brain changes are observed between healthy volunteers and two patient groups: 1.treated with HAART, 2.untreated. We show that, using a reliable MR scanner with highly reproducible quantitative MR measures, there is no detectable neurodegration in the brain of non-cognitively impaired HIV patients.