Acidic Nanoparticles Prevent HIV Pre-Exposure Prophylaxis (PrEP)-Induced Oligodendrocyte Impairments by Restoring...

A disproportionate percentage of adolescents are diagnosed with human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) in the United States each year. Preexposure prophylaxis (PrEP), an antiretroviral regimen, is effective at preventing the transmission of HIV to adolescents at substantial risk for acquiring HIV. However, other select antiretrovirals have been shown to cause white matter deficits in experimental models. Adolescents taking PrEP are uniquely vulnerable to myelin impairments as the adolescent brain undergoes high rates of myelination. Here, we report that PrEP significantly reduced oligodendrocyte maturation in adolescent rats. Furthermore, cultures of primary rat oligodendrocyte progenitors treated with PrEP showed inhibited oligodendrocyte differentiation through deacidification of lysosomes resulting in lysosomal accumulation of myelin proteins. Acidic nanoparticle co-administration with PrEP prevented PrEP-induced oligodendrocyte maturation impairments both in vivo and in vitro. These studies suggest uninfected adolescents are vulnerable to PrEP-induced oligodendrocyte impairments and identify maintenance of lysosome pH as a critical factor in antiretroviral design.