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Differential cognitive impairment in HCV coinfected men with controlled HIV compared to HCV monoinfection

Bing Sun1, Linda Abadjian, Hans Rempel

  • 1Department of Laboratory Medicine, Veterans Affairs Medical Center, San Francisco, CA 94121, USA.

Journal of Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndromes (1999)
|November 29, 2012
PubMed

Insights

HIV/HCV coinfection significantly increases cognitive impairment risk, even with controlled HIV. Hepatitis C virus (HCV) viral load impacts cognitive function differently in coinfected versus HCV-monoinfected individuals.

Area of Science:

  • Neuroscience
  • Virology
  • Immunology

Background:

  • Individuals with HIV and HCV coinfection often exhibit impaired neuropsychological (NP) test performance.
  • The cognitive impact of coinfection in patients with controlled HIV and minimal liver damage, particularly in the era of antiretroviral therapy, remains understudied.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To investigate the neuropsychological (NP) function in individuals coinfected with HIV and HCV compared to those with monoinfection or no infection.
  • To determine if controlled HIV viral loads in coinfected individuals are associated with cognitive deficits.

Main Methods:

  • A cohort of 19 HCV monoinfected, 17 HIV/HCV coinfected, and 17 control male participants underwent NP testing.
  • Evaluated domains included depression, attention, executive function, information processing, fine motor speed, and verbal/visual learning/memory.
  • A Global Deficit Score (GDS) was calculated, and alterations in specific NP domains were analyzed.

Main Results:

  • HIV/HCV coinfected subjects showed higher depression and GDS scores compared to controls and HCV monoinfected individuals.
  • Coinfection was linked to significantly worse performance in attention, working memory, executive function, fine motor function, and verbal/visual learning/memory.
  • In HCV monoinfected individuals, higher HCV viral load correlated with poorer attention, executive function, information processing, and increased GDS.

Conclusions:

  • HIV/HCV coinfection substantially elevates the risk of cognitive impairment, even when HIV viral load is controlled.
  • The distinct correlations between HCV viral load and cognitive function in coinfected versus HCV-monoinfected individuals suggest different underlying mechanisms of NP impairment.
Abstract

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