Host genetic factors predisposing to HIV-associated neurocognitive disorder.

ABSTRACT: The success of combination antiretroviral therapy (cART) in transforming the lives of HIV-infected individuals with access to these drugs is tempered by the increasing threat of HIV-associated neurocognitive disorders (HAND) to their overall health and quality of life. Intensive investigations over the past two decades have underscored the role of host immune responses, inflammation, and monocyte-derived macrophages in HAND, but the precise pathogenic mechanisms underlying HAND remain only partially delineated. Complicating research efforts and therapeutic drug development are the sheer complexity of HAND phenotypes, diagnostic imprecision, and the growing intersection of chronic immune activation with aging-related comorbidities. Yet, genetic studies still offer a powerful means of advanc

SUBMITTER: Kallianpur AR 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC4121535 | biostudies-literature | 2014 Sep

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature