Plasma Cytokine Levels As Predictors of Global and Domain-Specific Human Immunodeficiency Virus-Associated Neurocognitive Impairment in Treatment-Naive Individuals

• Published in: Journal of interferon & cytokine research Vol. 41; no. 4; p. 153
• Main Authors: Ruhanya, Vurayai, Jacobs, Graeme B, Paul, Robert, Joska, John, Seedat, Soraya, Nyandoro, George, Engelbrecht, Susan, Glashoff, Richard H
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: United States 01-04-2021
• Subjects: Adolescent; Adult; Antiretroviral Therapy, Highly Active; Biomarkers; CD4 Lymphocyte Count; Cognitive Dysfunction - blood; Cognitive Dysfunction - diagnosis; Cognitive Dysfunction - etiology; Cross-Sectional Studies; Cytokines - blood; Female; HIV Infections - blood; HIV Infections - complications; HIV Infections - diagnosis; HIV Infections - drug therapy; Humans; Male; Memory; Middle Aged; Prognosis; South Africa; Viral Load; Young Adult; South Africa; multiplex-bead assay; neuroinflammation; HIV infection; biomarkers; GDS
• ISSN: 1557-7465
• DOI: 10.1089/jir.2020.0251

Central nervous system dysfunction, associated with human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) infection, remains a significant clinical concern, affecting at least 50% of infected people. Imbalances in cytokine expression levels have been linked to HIV-associated neurocognitive disorders. The aim of this study was to evaluate plasma cytokine levels as predictor neurocognitive impairment in HIV infection using a multiplex profiling kit. Stepwise regression model was used to identify cytokine biomarkers of overall and domain-specific cognitive performance. Higher interleukin (IL)-2 (
 = 0.04;
 = 0.001) and eotaxin (
 = 0.01;
 = 0.017) were predictors of global neurocognitive, whereas higher IL-5 (
 = 0.005;
 = 0.007) was negative predictor of global cognitive deficit. IL-2 was a negative predictor of most cognitive domain functions, including recall (
 = 0.24;
 = 0.005), recognition (
 = 0.04;
 = 0.026), mental control (
 = 0.38;
 = 0.005), symbol search (
 = -0.55;
 = 0.001), and digital symbol (
 = -0.79;
 = 0.019). IL-6 was associated with 3 impaired domains, mental processing (
 = -0.468;
 = 0.027), recognition (
 = -0.044;
 = 0.012), and learning (
 = 0.02668;
 = 0.020) These results show that plasma cytokines/chemokines may serve as markers of neurocognitive impairment in HIV infection.