Cerebral function tests reveal differences in HIV-infected subjects with and without chronic HCV co-infection

Abstract

Neurocognitive impairment (NCI) remains prevalent in HIV-infected subjects despite effective combination antiretroviral therapy (CART). In subjects without evidence of hepatic decompensation, NCI is also a feature of chronic HCV infection. The present study aimed to examine cerebral function and establish differences between HIV-HCV co-infected (HCVco) and HIV mono-infected (HIVmo) individuals. Neurologically asymptomatic subjects with chronic HCVco were eligible and underwent computerized neurocognitive testing (CogState; CogState Ltd, Melbourne, Australia), a dementia assessment [International HIV Dementia Scale (IHDS)] and memory assessment [the Prospective and Retrospective Memory Questi..