SIMIAN IMMUNODEFICIENCY VIRUS - A MODEL FOR NEUROAIDS

In addition to its profound effects on the immune system, HIV also inf ects the CNS and can cause abnormalities in infected individuals rangi ng from mild cognitive and motor disorders to frank dementia. We have been actively investigating the molecular and cellular mechanisms unde rlying the CNS manifestations of lentivirus infection through the comp arative evaluation of brain pathophysiology under a number of parallel interrelated strategies. Here we describe our ongoing studies with th e SIV/rhesus macaque system. We have applied an interdisciplinary mult istep approach, utilizing viral, immunological, pathological, behavior al, and electrophysiological techniques to assess disease and study CN S dysfunction induced by SIV. The profile of the infection and the hos t response, and the resulting cognitive, motor, and neurophysiological abnormalities in SIV-infected monkeys, recapitulates many aspects of the functional impairments associated with HIV-induced CNS disease in humans. Consequently, the SIV model is ideal for examining the mechani sms underlying these functional abnormalities and for testing potentia l therapeutic agents. (C) 1997 Academic Press.