Lipid Droplets Accumulation in the Brain of HIV Transgenic Rat: Implication in the Accelerated Aging of HIV Infected Individuals.

ABSTRACT: Abnormal microglial activation has been suggested as "driven force" promoting brain aging. Lipid droplets accumulating microglia (LDAM), identified as a novel inflammatory phenotype, elevate neuroinflammation and exaggerate neuronal injuries in aging and multiple neurodegenerative diseases. Since chronic HIV (human immunodeficiency virus) (+) individuals show an accelerated brain aging and higher incidence of neurological symptoms compared to age-matched HIV (-) population, we hypothesize that LDAM are also involved in such phenomenon. For validating the hypothesis, we employed HIV transgenic (HIV-Tg) and wilt type (WT) rats to check lipid droplets (LDs) accumulation in the brains at mature (6 months) and middle age (12 months). Our results showed that HIV-Tg rats possess higher levels of

SUBMITTER: Guo ML 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC11745453 | biostudies-literature | 2024 Feb

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature