Document 0709
 DOCN  M9440709
 TI    Immunohistochemical changes and PCR detection of HIV provirus DNA in
       brains of asymptomatic HIV-positive patients.
 DT    9404
 AU    Sinclair E; Gray F; Ciardi A; Scaravilli F; Department of
       Neuropathology, National Hospital, London, Great; Britain.
 SO    J Neuropathol Exp Neurol. 1994 Jan;53(1):43-50. Unique Identifier :
       AIDSLINE MED/94132839
 AB    The stage of HIV infection at which the virus enters the nervous system
       remains poorly understood. Examination of brains of HIV-positive
       non-AIDS patients often shows lymphocytic meningitis, myelin pallor and
       gliosis, but no immunohistochemical (IHC) evidence of the virus. In this
       study we have examined a number of brains from HIV-positive patients
       with (23) and without (8) AIDS as well as brains from 5 HIV-negative
       controls by morphological, morphometric, IHC and polymerase chain
       reaction (PCR) methods in an attempt to establish at what stage of the
       infection HIV can be detected in the brain and to correlate its presence
       with the pathological changes in the cortex. HIV-1 proviral DNA was
       found by PCR in the cortex of the majority of AIDS and in 2 out of 8
       non-AIDS cases. Astroglial reaction was observed in the cortex of the
       majority of AIDS brains but not in most of the non-AIDS brains which
       showed, in addition, a dramatic reduction of glial fibrillary acidic
       protein staining around blood vessels; moreover, in this group the
       density of microglial cells was higher than in the AIDS group. These
       results show that: 1) HIV proviral DNA can be found in the brains of
       HIV-positive non-AIDS patients; 2) in the same group there is an
       increase in density of microglial cells which 3) appears to be
       transient, since AIDS brains without neuropathology show a lower density
       of these cells. They also suggest that the status of 'immune reaction'
       existing in AIDS may predate this period.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250
       WORDS)
 DE    Acquired Immunodeficiency Syndrome/MICROBIOLOGY/*PATHOLOGY  Adult
       AIDS-Related Opportunistic Infections/PATHOLOGY  Blotting, Southern
       Brain/MICROBIOLOGY/*PATHOLOGY  Cerebral Cortex/PATHOLOGY  Comparative
       Study  Cytomegalovirus Infections/COMPLICATIONS/PATHOLOGY  DNA,
       Viral/*ANALYSIS  Human  HIV/GENETICS/*ISOLATION & PURIF  HIV
       Seropositivity/MICROBIOLOGY/*PATHOLOGY  Immunohistochemistry
       Microglia/PATHOLOGY  Middle Age  Polymerase Chain Reaction
       Proviruses/GENETICS/*ISOLATION & PURIF  Support, Non-U.S. Gov't  JOURNAL
       ARTICLE

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