HUMAN-IMMUNODEFICIENCY-VIRUS TYPE-1 DNA AND RNA LOAD IN BRAINS OF DEMENTED AND NONDEMENTED PATIENTS WITH ACQUIRED-IMMUNODEFICIENCY-SYNDROME

The relationship between dementia and human immunodeficiency virus typ e 1 (HIV-1) cerebral load is not clearly understood. We used immunohis tochemistry and competitive polymerase chain reaction to evaluate the density of gp41 immunostained cells and the amount of HIV-1 DNA and RN A in the midfrontal gyrus of 21 HIV-1 infected patients, nine of whom were demented. The amounts of HIV-1 DNA and RNA, and the density of gp 41-positive cells were significantly linked. In this small series of c ases, (1) although as a mean, there was a larger viral load in demente d patients than in nondemented, this did not reach the significance le vel (2) discrepancies appeared in the population under study, some dem ented patients having low viral loads.