Is the telomere length associated with neurocognitive disabilities in HIV-1-infected subjects?

ABSTRACT Objective: We evaluated the association between cognitive deficits and leukocyte telomere length (LTL) in HIV-1-infected individuals. Design: 73 HIV-1-infected patients undergoing neuropsychological evaluation and 91 healthy controls were included in this study. Fifteen HIV-1 positive patients did not have cognitive disorders whereas 26 had asymptomatic neurocognitive disorder (ANI), 13 presented mild to moderate neurocognitive disorder (MND), and 10 had HIV-associated dementia (HAD). Methods: DNA from the peripheral blood of HIV-1-infected patients was used for measurement of telomere length by real-time PCR. HIV-1 viral load was determined in blood. Results: LTL decreased with age in healthy controls (p=0.0001). Regardless of the HIV status, age-matched LTL from HIV patients, including those with ANI and MND, were shortened in comparison to the healthy control group (p=0.0073); however, no association was found among the HIV-1-infected individuals with cognitive deficits (p=0.01). In addition, no gender-related association with LTL was observed (p=0.80), smoking, physical exercise, and plasma viral load were not correlated to telomere length (p=0.66). Conclusions: We concluded that leukocyte telomere length may not be a marker of cellular senescence in individuals with HIV infection and neurocognitive disorders.

Bibliographic Details

Main Authors:	Araújo,Marilia Ladeira de, Duarte,Wellington, Oliveira,Augusto César Penalva de, Gascón,Maria Rita Polo, Fonseca,Luiz Augusto Marcondes, Paiva,Raquel de Melo Alves, Santana,Bárbara, Calado,Rodrigo Tocantins, Casseb,Jorge
Format:	Digital revista
Language:	English
Published:	Instituto de Medicina Tropical de São Paulo 2018
Online Access:	http://old.scielo.br/scielo.php?script=sci_arttext&pid=S0036-46652018005000207
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