Important role of microglia in HIV-1 associated neurocognitive disorders and the molecular pathways implicated in its pathogenesis.

Important role of microglia in HIV-1 associated neurocognitive disorders and the molecular pathways implicated in its pathogenesis. Ann Med. 2020 Aug 25;:1-78 Authors: Borrajo A, Spuch C, Penedo MA, Olivares JM, Agís-Balboa RC Abstract The development of effective combined anti-retroviral therapy (cART) led to a significant reduction in the death rate associated with human immunodeficiency virus type 1 (HIV-1) infection. However, recent studies indicate that considerably more than 50% of all HIV-1 infected patients develop HIV-1-associated neurocognitive disorder (HAND). Microglia are the foremost cells infected by HIV-1 in the central nervous system (CNS), and so, are also likely to contribute to the neurotoxicity observed in HAND. The activation of microglia induces the release of pro-inflammatory markers and altered secretion of cytokines, chemokines, secondary messengers, and reactive oxygen species (ROS) which activate signaling pathways that initiate neuroinflammation. In turn, ROS and inflammation also play critical roles in HAND. However, more efforts are required to understand the physiology of microglia and the processes involved in their activation in order to better understand the how HIV-1-infected microglia are involved in the development of HAND. In this review, we summarize the current state of knowledge about the involvement of oxidative stress mechanisms and role of HIV-induced ROS in the development of HAND. We al...
Source: Annals of Medicine - Category: Internal Medicine Tags: Ann Med Source Type: research