Aids and the Brain
Aids Virus is a "Double Hit" to the Brain
A new study from USD and Burnham Institute for Medical Research concludes the AIDS virus is found to damage brain cells in two ways, killing those that exist and preventing repair of those that are dying.
AIDS damages the brain in two ways, by not only killing brain cells but by preventing the birth of new cells, U.S. researchers reported on Wednesday. The study, published in the journal Cell Stem Cell, helps shed light on a condition known as HIV-associated dementia, which can cause confusion, sleep disturbances and memory loss in people infected with the virus.
This interesting finding could substantially help us not only in the treatment of AIDS but in the research helping us understand how brain cells or curcuits regenerate. Which in turn could help in the prevention, rehabilitation and udnerstanding of brain injury.
The virus kills brain cells but it also appears to stop progenitor cells, known as stem cells, from dividing, the team at Burnham Institute for Medical Research and the University of California at San Diego found. "It's a double hit to the brain," researcher Marcus Kaul said in a statement. "The HIV protein both causes brain injury and prevents its repair."
