Neuropsychological performance and CD4 levels in HIV-1 asymptomatic infection

The performance of 68 HIV-1 seropositive asymptomatic (HIV+) subjects stratified on CD4 levels were compared with 82 HIV-1 seronegative (HIV-) subjects on a battery of neuropsychological, mood state, and perceived health status measures. The neuropsychological test battery included measures of attention, reaction time, memory, intellectual ability, psychomotor speed, frontal lobe or "executive" function, and decision time. None of the HIV+ subjects were taking antiviral agents. The groups did not differ for age, mood state, or WAIS-R Verbal and Performance IQ scores. Due to group differences for education and weekly ethanol consumption, both variables were used as covariates in multivariate analyses of variance. Relatively few differences were observed between subgroups of HIV+ patients or between these subgroups and control subjects. These data suggest that factors other than absolute levels of immunosuppression as expressed by CD4 levels alone, appear to be responsible for the deficits observed in HIV+ asymptomatic patients.