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Mice aiding in HIV-dementia research at U. Nebraska

LINCOLN, Neb.-Research at the University of Nebraska Medical Center is gaining ground in the fight against HIV, and mice are helping out.

University of Nebraska Medical Center researcher Jenae Limoges conducted the study, which involved implanting infected human cells into the brains of mice.

Each mouse was injected with one of five drugs being tested.

The study focused on finding out how effective different drugs were at crossing the blood-brain barrier and destroying HIV in the brain.

Limoges, principle investigator of the study and assistant professor in the Department of Internal Medicine-Infectious Diseases, said research is needed to discover what drugs can reach possible HIV reservoirs in the brain and other areas.

HIV in the brain can cause HIV-dementia.

Larry Bierce, educational director at the Nebraska AIDS Project, said HIV-dementia can cause severe handicaps for people who are otherwise physically healthy.

HIV-dementia resembles Alzheimer's disease, he said. It can affect memory and motor movement.

"Dementia is one of the most insidious complications of HIV diseases in that it is one that we've had some of the most difficulty in treating," he said. "It can be quite debilitating."

Limoges voiced a similar concern.

"We've gotten all these new drugs that treat HIV very well in the blood, but we don't know how well they work in the brain," she said.

The blood-brain barrier is a natural defense mechanism of the brain. Some drugs do not cross the barrier well, resulting in a lower exposure to anti-HIV drugs for the virus in the brain.

Exposure to low levels of the drugs can allow HIV to form into mutant viruses that are not responsive to the drugs, Limoges said.

Another danger of the reservoirs is the possibility that the virus can hide until the drug treatment is stopped and then reemerge into the body.

Two of the drugs tested, abacavir and lamivudine, also known as 3TC, were most effective. They reduced viral levels in the brain by 80 to 95 percent.

The results of the study were published in the January issue of Neurology.

All five drugs were nucleoside reverse transcriptase inhibitors, which work by halting the viruses' reproduction.

Twenty percent of adults and 50 percent of children with HIV develop HIV-dementia.

Limoges said the study was innovative because of the mouse model used. Mice are cheap, and research can be done quickly, she said.

"We could get information very quickly, within seven to 14 days, as opposed to human studies, which might take years," she said.