PEPTIDE-T AND GLUCOSE-METABOLISM IN AIDS DEMENTIA COMPLEX

AIDS dementia complex (ADC) is the most common presenting neurologic m anifestation of human immunodeficiency virus (HIV)-1 infection. We rep ort FDG-PET studies in a 39 yr-old man who had ADC and completed a 12- wk treatment protocol with 1.2 mg/day of intranasal peptide T, one bef ore and one after 12 wk of treatment with peptide T. Peptide T is an o ctapeptide under investigation for treatment of ADC patients. Values o f rCMRglc were converted to Z scores using the mean and standard devia tion of values of rCMRglc in three HIV-seronegative matched controls, each of which was studied twice, at the beginning and end of a 12-wk i nterval. Thirty-five of 60 regions assayed showed Z scores with absolu te values greater than or equal to 3 (considered abnormal) in the base line study. Regions with high absolute values of Z scores were located in subcortical areas and in the limbic system, and to a lesser degree in the frontal, temporal and parietal robes. Thirty-four of these 35 regions showed remission (decrease in the absolute values of Z scores) after treatment. Only one region showed no improvement in the second study. Three regions with absolute values of Z scores <3 in the baseli ne study manifested Z scores with magnitudes greater than or equal to 3 in the second study. These preliminary observations suggest that fun ctional neuroimaging techniques provide a useful tool in the evaluatio n of the response to treatment in ADC patients.