Increased brain-predicted aging in treated HIV disease.

Area of Science:

• Neuroimaging and Neuroscience
• Infectious Diseases and Virology
• Gerontology and Aging Research

Background:

• Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV) infection can impact brain health.
• Understanding age-related brain changes in people with HIV is crucial for long-term care.
• Neuroimaging offers potential biomarkers for brain aging.

Purpose of the Study:

• To determine if HIV is associated with accelerated brain aging using neuroimaging.
• To investigate the relationship between apparent brain age and cognitive performance in HIV.
• To explore correlations between brain aging estimates and HIV-specific clinical factors.

Main Methods:

• Utilized T1-weighted MRI scans from a large cohort of virologically suppressed HIV-positive adults and HIV-negative controls.
• Employed a machine-learning model trained on a healthy aging cohort to estimate brain-predicted age.
• Calculated brain-predicted age difference (brain-PAD) and assessed cognitive function and clinical parameters.

Main Results:

• HIV-positive individuals exhibited a significantly greater brain-PAD score compared to HIV-negative controls.
• Higher brain-PAD scores correlated with poorer performance in cognitive domains, including processing speed, executive function, and memory.
• Brain-PAD was not associated with chronological age, duration of HIV, or other HIV-related clinical measures.

Conclusions:

• Apparent brain aging is increased in adults with HIV, irrespective of viral suppression.
• The degree of apparent brain aging is linked to cognitive deficits in the HIV-positive population.
• HIV may accentuate brain aging processes rather than accelerate them, independent of infection duration.