Journal article

Regional Analysis of Intact and Defective HIV Proviruses in the Brain of Viremic and Virally Suppressed People with HIV

TA Angelovich, CR Cochrane, J Zhou, C Tumpach, SJ Byrnes, J Jamal Eddine, E Waring, K Busman-Sahay, C Deleage, TA Jenkins, AC Hearps, S Turville, PR Gorry, SR Lewin, BJ Brew, JD Estes, M Roche, MJ Churchill

Annals of Neurology | Published : 2023

Abstract

Here, we provide the first regional analysis of intact and defective HIV reservoirs within the brain. Brain tissue from both viremic and virally suppressed people with HIV (PWH) harbored HIV pol DNA in all regions tested, with lower levels present in basal ganglia and cerebellum relative to frontal white matter. Intact proviruses were primarily found in the frontal white matter but also detected in other brain regions of PWH, demonstrating frontal white matter as a major brain reservoir of intact, potentially replication competent HIV DNA that persists despite antiretroviral therapy. ANN NEUROL 2023;94:798–802.

Grants

Awarded by National Institutes of Health


Funding Acknowledgements

This work was supported by the National Health and Medical Research Council (NHMRC), Australia 1183032 (M.J.C., J.D.E., M.R., and P.R.G.) and by the National Institute On Drug Abuse of the National Institutes of Health under Award Number R21DA055489 (M.J.C., M.R., and T.A.A.). The authors gratefully acknowledge the support from the NNTC financially supported by National Institutes of Health (NIH) funding through the NIMH and NINDS Institutes (grant nos. U24MH100930, U24MH100928, U24MH100929, U24MH100931, and U24MH100925). The contents are the responsibility of the authors and do not represent the official view of the NNTC or NIH. S.R.L. is supported by an NHMRC Practitioner Fellowship. This project has been funded in part with federal funds from the National Cancer Institute, National Institutes of Health, under Contract No. 75N91019D00024/HHSN261201500003I. The content of this publication does not necessarily reflect the views or policies of the Department of Health and Human Services, nor does mention of trade names, commercial products, or organizations imply endorsement by the U.S. Government. Open access publishing facilitated by RMIT University, as part of the Wiley - RMIT University agreement via the Council of Australian University Librarians.