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Special Issue Editors

Prof. Dr. Olimpia Meucci

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Guest Editor

Department of Pharmacology & Physiology, Drexel University College of Medicine, Philadelphia, PA, USA
Interests: neurocognitive disorders; HIV-1; CNS therapeutics

Dr. Zachary A. Klase

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Guest Editor

Department of Pharmacology & Physiology, Drexel University College of Medicine, Philadelphia, PA, USA
Interests: HIV-1; neuroinflammation; substance use; epigenetics

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

HIV can be suppressed to undetectable levels in infected people using modern antiretroviral therapies, but this approach fails to eliminate the infection and some associated complications such as cognitive impairments. These HIV-associated neurocognitive deficits are not caused by an ongoing infection, but rather by multiple factors (i.e. expression of HIV proteins or defective proviruses in the brain, dysfunction of latently infected brain cells, disruption of brain bioenergetics and vasculature, low-level neuroinflammation), and perhaps specific antiretroviral therapies themselves. Adding to this complexity, neuroHIV is often aggravated by comorbidities, like substance use and mood disorders, and is critically intertwined with aging. Importantly, HIV infection also increases the risk of cancer and cardiovascular disorders. Therefore, neuroHIV likely results from interactions between many different factors, both intrinsic and extrinsic, within the exquisitely complex system of the human brain.

Basic and clinical neuroHIV research has evolved over time, allowing us to examine more subtle aspects of the disease in increasingly translational experimental systems, as well as human subjects. With a focus on cellular and molecular insights, this Special Issue will highlight promising preclinical and clinically relevant methods, including those that examine how modern-day comorbidities interact to drive disease. Contributions to this issue may include original research, review articles and focused perspectives.

We look forward to reviewing your contributions and showcasing the field’s scientific evolution.

Prof. Dr. Olimpia Meucci
Dr. Zachary A. Klase
Guest Editors

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Keywords

neuroHIV
HAND
cognitive impairment
neuroinflammation
neural circuits
brain vasculature
learning and memory
CNS therapeutics
HIV models
antiretrovirals
substance use
opioid
cancer
brain bioenergetics
lipids
neurons
glia
cell-to-cell communication

Published Papers (2 papers)

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Research

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21 pages, 2475 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Effects of Antiretroviral Treatment on Central and Peripheral Immune Response in Mice with EcoHIV Infection

by Qiaowei Xie, Mark D. Namba, Lauren A. Buck, Kyewon Park, Joshua G. Jackson and Jacqueline M. Barker

Cells 2024, 13(10), 882; https://doi.org/10.3390/cells13100882 - 20 May 2024

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Abstract

HIV infection is an ongoing global health issue, despite increased access to antiretroviral therapy (ART). People living with HIV (PLWH) who are virally suppressed through ART still experience negative health outcomes, including neurocognitive impairment. It is increasingly evident that ART may act independently or in combination with HIV infection to alter the immune state, though this is difficult to disentangle in the clinical population. Thus, these experiments used multiplexed chemokine/cytokine arrays to assess peripheral (plasma) and brain (nucleus accumbens; NAc) expression of immune targets in the presence and absence of ART treatment in the EcoHIV mouse model. The findings identify the effects of EcoHIV infection and of treatment with bictegravir (B), emtricitabine (F), and tenofovir alafenamide (TAF) on the expression of numerous immune targets. In the NAc, this included EcoHIV-induced increases in IL-1α and IL-13 expression and B/F/TAF-induced reductions in KC/CXCL1. In the periphery, EcoHIV suppressed IL-6 and LIF expression, while B/F/TAF reduced IL-12p40 expression. In the absence of ART, IBA-1 expression was negatively correlated with CX3CL1 expression in the NAc of EcoHIV-infected mice. These findings identify distinct effects of ART and EcoHIV infection on peripheral and central immune factors and emphasize the need to consider ART effects on neural and immune outcomes. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Modern Translational Approaches in NeuroHIV and HIV Comorbidities Research)

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Review

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25 pages, 1207 KiB

Open AccessReview

Non-Coding RNAs in HIV Infection, NeuroHIV, and Related Comorbidities

by Seema Singh, Uma Maheswari Deshetty, Sudipta Ray, Abiola Oladapo, Elias Horanieh, Shilpa Buch and Palsamy Periyasamy

Cells 2024, 13(11), 898; https://doi.org/10.3390/cells13110898 - 23 May 2024

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Abstract

NeuroHIV affects approximately 30–60% of people living with HIV-1 (PLWH) and is characterized by varying degrees of cognitive impairments, presenting a multifaceted challenge, the underlying cause of which is chronic, low-level neuroinflammation. Such smoldering neuroinflammation is likely an outcome of lifelong reliance on antiretrovirals coupled with residual virus replication in the brains of PLWH. Despite advancements in antiretroviral therapeutics, our understanding of the molecular mechanism(s) driving inflammatory processes in the brain remains limited. Recent times have seen the emergence of non-coding RNAs (ncRNAs) as critical regulators of gene expression, underlying the neuroinflammatory processes in HIV infection, NeuroHIV, and their associated comorbidities. This review explores the role of various classes of ncRNAs and their regulatory functions implicated in HIV infection, neuropathogenesis, and related conditions. The dysregulated expression of ncRNAs is known to exacerbate the neuroinflammatory responses, thus contributing to neurocognitive impairments in PLWH. This review also discusses the diagnostic and therapeutic potential of ncRNAs in HIV infection and its comorbidities, suggesting their utility as non-invasive biomarkers and targets for modulating neuroinflammatory pathways. Understanding these regulatory roles could pave the way for novel diagnostic strategies and therapeutic interventions in the context of HIV and its comorbidities. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Modern Translational Approaches in NeuroHIV and HIV Comorbidities Research)

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