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HIV Subtype D Linked to Increased Likelihood for Dementia BALTIMORE, Md -- August 31, 2009 -- Patients who have HIV subtype D are more likely to develop dementia than patients with other subtypes, according to a study published in the September issue of the journal Clinical Infectious Diseases. The study is the first to demonstrate that the specific type of HIV has any effect on cognitive impairment, one of the most common complications of uncontrolled HIV infection. Ned Sacktor, MD, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine and Johns Hopkins Bayview Medical Center, Baltimore, Maryland, and colleagues studied 60 patients with HIV from a Kampala clinic. All patients had been part of a different study testing the effect of anti-retroviral drugs on cognitive impairment, but had not begun taking the drugs. After determining each patient’s HIV subtype, they performed a battery of neurological and cognitive tests to assess each patient’s brain function. As expected, the majority of the patients had HIV subtypes A or D. Out of the 33 subtype A patients, the researchers determined that 7 (24%) had dementia. However, out of the 9 patients with subtype D, 8 had dementia (89%). “We were amazed to see such a dramatic difference in dementia frequencies between these 2 subtypes,” said Dr. Sacktor. “If this is the case in all of sub-Saharan Africa, HIV-associated dementia may be one of the most common, but thus far unrecognised, dementias worldwide.” The research suggests that some biological property of each subtype seems to influence the likelihood that infected patients will develop dementia, said Dr. Sacktor. He and his team hypothesise that subtype D may cause more inflammation and injury in the brain, a possibility they are currently investigating. SOURCE: Johns Hopkins Medical Institutions E-mail this page to a friend or colleague! To print, use this version