Older individuals with HIV infection have greater memory deficits than younger individuals.

The prevalence of HIV-associated neurocognitive disorder (HAND) remains persistently high in the era of combination antiretroviral therapy. We aimed to characterize the pattern of neurocognitive dysfunction in older subjects with HAND in particular amnestic versus non-amnestic impairment. One hundred six subjects from the Johns Hopkins University NIMH Clinical Outcomes cohort underwent standardized neuropsychological (NP) testing between November 2006 and June 2010. We examined performance in seven cognitive domains (memory, attention, speed of processing,visuospatial, language, motor, and executive). Older subjects were defined as age >50 years at the time of NP testing.Subjects were diagnosed with HAND according to established criteria and dichotomized into amnestic cognitive impairment or non-amnestic cognitive impairment with deficit defined as z scores <−1.5 for the verbal and nonverbal memory domains.There were 32 older subjects with a mean age (SD) of 54.2 (2.8) years and 74 younger subjects, 43.7 (4.3) years. Older age was associated with a 4.8-fold higher odds of memory deficits adjusted for potential confounders (p =0.035) identified a priori. With age modeled as a continuous covariate,every 1 year increase in age was associated with a 1.11-fold higher odds of memory deficit (p =0.05). There was a higher proportion of amnestic cognitive impairment among older subjects than younger subjects with HIV infection. Neurodegenerative processes other than those directly due to HIV maybe increasingly important as individuals with chronic HIV infection and HAND survive into older age.

Vascular risk factors, HIV serostatus, and cognitive dysfunction in gay and bisexual men.

BACKGROUND: The purpose of this study was to evaluate the relationship between cognitive performance, risk factors for cardiovascular and cerebrovascular disease (CVD), and HIV infection in the era of highly active antiretroviral therapy. METHODS: We evaluated the cognitive functions of men enrolled in the cardiovascular disease substudy of the Multicenter AIDS Cohort Study who were aged > or =40 years, with no self-reported history of heart disease or cerebrovascular disease. Results from comprehensive neuropsychological evaluations were used to construct composite scores of psychomotor speed and memory performance. Subclinical CVD was assessed by measuring coronary artery calcium and carotid artery intima-media thickness (IMT), as well as laboratory measures, including total cholesterol, fasting glucose, glycosylated hemoglobin, glomerular filtration rate (estimated), and standardized blood pressure and heart rate measures. RESULTS: After accounting for education, depression, and race, carotid IMT and glomerular filtration rate were significantly associated with psychomotor speed, whereas IMT was associated with memory test performance. HIV serostatus was not significantly associated with poorer cognitive test performance. However, among the HIV-infected individuals, the presence of detectable HIV RNA in plasma was linked to lower memory performance. CONCLUSIONS: These findings suggest that HIV infection may not be the most important predictor of cognitive performance among older gay and bisexual men in the post-highly active antiretroviral therapy era, at least among those with access to medical care and to appropriate medications. Medical factors associated with normal aging are significantly associated with performance on neuropsychological tests, and good clinical management of these factors both in HIV-infected individuals and those at risk for infection may have beneficial effects in the short term and could reduce the risk of subsequent cognitive decline.

Spanish validation of the HIV dementia scale in women.

HIV infection is increasing in minority groups, particularly in African American and Hispanic women. Although the incidence of HIV dementia has decreased since the advent of highly active antiretroviral treatment, prevalence of neurocognitive complications has increased as patients are now living longer. This study's purpose was to determine the psychometric properties of the Spanish-language HIV Dementia Scale (HDS) in a group of HIV-infected women. We recruited 96 women: 60 HIV-seropositive and 36 HIV-seronegative. Modification of the HDS into a Spanish-language version consisted of translating the instructions, substituting four words in Spanish (gato, media, azul, piña), increasing 1 second in the psychomotor speed because the Spanish alphabet has more letters than the English alphabet, and not offering clues for memory recall. Cognitive impairment (CI) was defined according to the modified American Academy of Neurology HIV-dementia criteria including an asymptomatic CI group. Statistical analysis consisted of analysis of variance to determine group differences and receiver operator characteristics (ROC) to determine the optimal cutoff point for the screening of CI. HDS-Spanish total score and subscores for psychomotor speed and memory recall showed significant differences between HIV-seronegative and women with HIV-dementia (p < 0.001) and between HIV-seropositive women with normal cognition and those with HIV-dementia (p < 0.001). The optimal cutoff point of 13 or less had performance characteristics of 87% sensitivity and 46% specificity for HIV-associated CI (50.0% positive predictive value, 85.0% negative predictive value). The HDS-Spanish translation offers a useful screening tool with value for the identification of Hispanic women at risk of developing HIV-associated symptomatic neurocognitive disturbances.

Longitudinally preserved psychomotor performance in long-term asymptomatic HIV-infected individuals.

BACKGROUND: Recent case reports have suggested that some asymptomatic HIV-infected individuals can develop CNS disturbances despite intact immunologic functioning and long-term suppression of plasma HIV concentrations to undetectable levels. This possibility has not yet been systematically studied longitudinally. METHODS: Using longitudinal data from the Multicenter AIDS Cohort Study, we investigated neuropsychological performance in long-term asymptomatic HIV-infected men who have sex with men. Performance over a 5-year period on the Symbol Digit Modalities test and the Trail Making Tests were compared in three HIV-positive asymptomatic groups [defined as 1) highly active antiretroviral therapy (HAART) treated with undetectable viral loads (n = 83), 2) AIDS-free for more than 15 years without HAART (n = 29), and 3) absence of clinical AIDS or CD4(+) lymphocyte count below 200 cells/muL at the beginning and end of the study period (n = 233)] and in HIV-negative controls (n = 237). Data were analyzed using linear mixed models and proportional odds logistic regression modeling with generalized estimating equations. RESULTS: There was no evidence of performance differences or performance declines over the 5-year period of study in any of the three long-term asymptomatic groups as compared with the HIV-negative group in the Symbol Digit Modalities test or the Trail Making Tests. Performance decrements were, however, observed with increasing age in each of the tests administered, demonstrating that performance declines could be detected by these methods. CONCLUSIONS: Regardless of how long-term asymptomatic status was defined immunologically or virologically, neuropsychological test performances remained stable. These findings suggest that psychomotor speed is preserved over many years in HIV-infected individuals with controlled HIV viremia.

Is there cognitive decline 1 year after CABG? Comparison with surgical and nonsurgical controls.

BACKGROUND: It is widely assumed that decline in cognition after coronary artery bypass grafting (CABG) is related to use of the cardiopulmonary bypass pump. Because most studies have not included comparable control groups, it remains unclear whether postoperative cognitive changes are specific to cardiopulmonary bypass, general aspects of surgery, or vascular pathologies of the aging brain. METHODS: This nonrandomized study included four groups: CABG patients (n = 140); off-pump coronary surgery (n = 72); nonsurgical cardiac controls (NSCC) with diagnosed coronary artery disease but no surgery (n = 99); and heart healthy controls (HHC) with no cardiac risk factors (n = 69). Subjects were evaluated at baseline (preoperatively), 3 months, and 12 months. Eight cognitive domains and a global cognitive score, as well as depressive and subjective symptoms were analyzed. RESULTS: At baseline, patients with coronary artery disease (CABG, off-pump, and NSCC) had lower performance than the HHC group in several cognitive domains. By 3 months, all groups had improved. From 3 to 12 months, there were minimal intrasubject changes for all groups. No consistent differences between the CABG and off-pump patients were observed. CONCLUSIONS: Compared with heart healthy controls (HHC), the groups with coronary artery disease had lower cognitive test scores at baseline. There was no evidence that the cognitive test performance of coronary artery bypass grafting (CABG) patients differed from that of control groups with coronary artery disease over a 1-year period. This study emphasizes the need for appropriate control groups for interpreting longitudinal changes in cognitive performance after CABG.

Age, apolipoprotein E4, and the risk of HIV dementia: the Hawaii Aging with HIV Cohort.

There are discrepant findings regarding the risk of HIV-associated dementia (HAD) relating to apolipoprotein E4, suggesting other factors may modulate risk. Furthermore, evidence suggests a changing phenotype of HAD in the era of highly active antiretroviral therapy (HAART), prompting a need to determine if new disease markers have emerged. In this analysis, APOE genotype was determined for 182 participants enrolled in the Hawaii Aging with HIV Cohort. After controlling for age and diabetes status, an independent risk of HAD relating to E4 was seen in older participants [OR=2.898 (1.031-8.244)] but not in younger participants [OR=0.373 (0.054-1.581)]. Several proposed mechanisms may underlie this association. Consideration of non-traditional risk factors for HAD in older HIV patients may yield new markers of disease in the era of HAART.

Evaluation of HIV RNA and markers of immune activation as predictors of HIV-associated dementia.

OBJECTIVE: To evaluate whether baseline levels of plasma and CSF HIV RNA, tumor necrosis factor alpha (TNFalpha), monocyte chemoattractant protein-1 (MCP-1), matrix metalloproteinase-2 (MMP-2), or macrophage colony stimulating factor (M-CSF) are predictors of incident HIV-associated dementia (HIVD) in a cohort with advanced HIV infection. METHODS: A total of 203 nondemented subjects with CD4 lymphocyte counts less than 200/muL, or <300/microL but with cognitive impairment, underwent semiannual neurologic, cognitive, functional, and laboratory assessments. HIVD and minor cognitive motor disorder (MCMD) were defined using American Academy of Neurology criteria. The cumulative incidence of HIVD was estimated using Kaplan-Meier curves. Cox proportional hazards regression models were used to examine the associations between biologic variables and time to HIVD, adjusting for age, sex, years of education, duration of HIV infection, type of antiretroviral use, premorbid IQ score, and presence of MCMD. RESULTS: After a median follow-up time of 20.7 months, 74 (36%) subjects reached the HIVD endpoint. The dementia was mild in 70% of cases. The cumulative incidence of HIVD was 20% at 1 year and 33% at 2 years. Highly active antiretroviral therapy (HAART) was used by 73% of subjects at baseline. A plasma HIV RNA level was undetectable in 23% of subjects and a CSF HIV RNA level was undetectable in 48% of subjects. In adjusted analyses, neither plasma nor CSF HIV RNA levels (log10) were associated with time to HIVD; log10 levels of plasma TNFalpha (HR 3.07, p = 0.03) and CSF MCP-1 (HR = 3.36, p = 0.06) tended to be associated with time to HIVD. CONCLUSION: The lack of association between baseline plasma and CSF HIV RNA levels and incident dementia suggests highly active antiretroviral therapy may be affecting CNS viral dynamics, leading to lower HIV RNA levels, and therefore weakening the utility of baseline HIV RNA levels as predictors of HIV-associated dementia.

Higher frequency of dementia in older HIV-1 individuals: the Hawaii Aging with HIV-1 Cohort.

BACKGROUND: Antiretroviral therapy has improved survival for HIV-1-infected individuals. The neuroepidemiologic implications of HIV-1 in an aging population are not well known, particularly the prevalence of HIV-associated dementia (HAD). METHODS: The authors report a baseline cross-sectional analysis of 202 HIV-1-seropositive individuals enrolled into one of two groups of the Hawaii Aging with HIV Cohort: older (50 or more years old, n = 106) and younger (20 to 39 years old, n = 96). Neuropsychological, neurologic, medical, and laboratory data were obtained at enrollment. Participant cognitive status was classified (research case definitions) using American Academy of Neurology (1991) criteria in a consensus conference of physicians and neuropsychologists. RESULTS: HAD was more frequent in older (25.2%) compared to younger (13.7%) individuals (p = 0.041) corresponding to an OR of 2.13 (95% CI: 1.02 to 4.44) for the older compared to the younger group. After adjusting for education, race, substance dependence, antiretroviral medication status, viral load, CD4 lymphocyte count, and Beck Depression Inventory score, the odds of having HAD among individuals in the older group was 3.26 (1.32 to 8.07) times that of the younger group. CONCLUSIONS: Older age is associated with increased HAD in this HIV-1 cohort. Underlying mechanisms are unclear but do not appear related to duration of HIV-1 infection.

Response to systemic HIV viral load suppression correlates with psychomotor speed performance.

The authors evaluated the association of a virologic response to highly active antiretroviral therapy, or a subsequent rebound, with performance on two measures of psychomotor speed in HIV-positive subjects. Virologic suppression was associated with improved performance on measures of psychomotor speed, and virologic rebound was associated with psychomotor speed performance decline. Changes in plasma HIV viral load in HIV-positive individuals with cognitive slowing correlate with performance on tests of psychomotor speed.

Inter-rater reliability of a clinical staging of HIV-associated cognitive impairment.

OBJECTIVE: To determine the inter-rater reliability of a modification of the Memorial Sloan-Kettering (MSK) Staging for HIV-associated cognitive impairment. METHODS: Data were abstracted on neurologic, neuropsychological, and functional status on 100 individuals participating at four sites in the Northeast AIDS Dementia (NEAD) Consortium cohort study, a longitudinal study of predictors of cognitive impairment in HIV-infected individuals. Neuropsychological performance was defined 1) based on the neuropsychologist's global impression and 2) solely based on neuropsychological test scores. Raters at each site used the abstracted data to assign an MSK stage to each subject blind to any identifying information. Inter-rater reliability was assessed using kappa statistics. Agreement between computer-generated ratings and site-generated ratings was also assessed. RESULTS: Kappa statistics for pair-wise agreement among the sites regarding MSK stage ranged from 0.70-0.91, representing good to excellent agreement between sites. Agreement between computer-generated ratings and site-generated ratings was in the good to excellent range (0.62-0.79). CONCLUSIONS: The authors have modified the MSK rating scale and developed a reliable instrument that can be used in multicenter studies. This instrument will be useful in staging HIV-dementia in future longitudinal studies and will be valuable in increasing accuracy of clinicopathologic studies.