HIV Neurotoxicity: Potential Therapeutic Interventions

[摘要] Individuals suffering from human immunodeficiency virus type 1(HIV-1) infection suffer from a wide range of neurologicaldeficits. The most pronounced are the motor and cognitive deficitsobserved in many patients in the latter stages of HIV infection.Gross postmortem inspection shows cortical atrophy and widespreadneuronal loss. One of the more debilitating of the HIV-relatedsyndromes is AIDS-related dementia, or HAD. Complete understandingof HIV neurotoxicity has been elusive. Both direct and indirecttoxic mechanisms have been implicated in the neurotoxicity of theHIV proteins, Tat and gp120. The glutamatergic system, nitricoxide, calcium, oxidative stress, apoptosis, and microglia have allbeen implicated in the pathogenesis of HIV-related neuronaldegeneration. The aim of this review is to summarize the mostrecent work and provide an overview to the current theories ofHIV-related neurotoxicity and potential avenues of therapeuticinterventions to prevent the neuronal loss and motor/cognitivedeficits previously described.

[学科分类] 基础医学