Influence of Lymphocyte T CD4 Levels on the Neuropsychological Performance of Population A ected by HIV and with a Previous History of Substance Use

Enrique VáZquez-Justo,Amalia GarcíA-Torres,Esperanza Vergara-Moragues

doi:10.9781/ijimai.2017.4511

Enrique VáZquez-Justo, Amalia GarcíA-Torres + Show 1 more

Open Access

https://doi.org/10.9781/ijimai.2017.4511

Copy DOI

Abstract

The immunological markers help to know if there is a good recovery of the immunological system in patients infected with HIV. Among them, the lymphocyte T CD4 rate is the main indicator of the patient’s immunological state being used for staging HIV infection, evaluating the mortality or comorbidity risk and the vulnerability to certain oportunistic infections. However, its link with the presence of cognitive alterations is not clear. Therefore, the aim of this article is to study if lymphocyte T CD4 levels are connected with the neuropsychological performance of a group of people infected with HIV and with a previous history of substance use. The sample consisted of 80 seropositive males with a previous history of substance use. They were evaluated by means of a neuropsychological battery which assesses the most affected cognitive domains in HIV population. The results showed that the patients having a higher level of immunodeficiency (CD4 <200/ mm3) have a poorer performance in terms of attention, visuomotor dexterity, visual memory, visual perception, auditory-verbal learning and inhibition. Therefore, our results show a realtion between the lymphocyte T CD4 rate and the neuropsychological performance in seropositive people with a previsous history of substance use.

Highlights

Since the HIV primary infection the viral activity is continuous, and it produces the rise of a series of markers which will reflect the probability of HIV development at a certain speed. These markers show in a direct way or in an indirect way the action HIV takes on the immunological system of the patient, and they have been used independently or combined to identify the risk of progression to AIDS [9] (Table I)
In order to determine the level of immune compromise in the neuropsychological performance, we have divided the seropositive subjects in three groups, according to the lymphocyte T CD4 level (>500, 499-200,
Our findings show that seropositive subjects with higher immunodepression levels (CD4

Summary

Introduction

Since the HIV primary infection the viral activity is continuous, and it produces the rise of a series of markers which will reflect the probability of HIV development at a certain speed These markers show in a direct way (viral load, or lymphocytes T CD4) or in an indirect way (microglobulin ß-2, neopterin, or antigen p24) the action HIV takes on the immunological system of the patient, and they have been used independently or combined to identify the risk of progression to AIDS [9] (Table I). All these markers have a high prognostic value.

Objectives

Methods

Results