THE VIRUS IN THE PIXEL
» A new protocol combines Magnetic Resonance Imaging and digital pathology to study how the brain fights HIV.
AIDS does not spare the brain. In fact, the brain can act as a sanctuary where the human immuno-deficiency (HIV) virus enters, carried by the cells of the immune response, and replicates, causing a complex scenario of neurological damage. The introduction of a pharmacological therapy, called highly active anti-retroviral therapy or HAART, has successfully checked the replication of the virus, including the clones that reside in the brain. However, the longevity associated with the therapy has generated new chronic and shifting neurological conditions.
Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI) can detect dramatic neurological changes in patients with HIV infection, but the technology cannot resolve the real underlying pathological events which occur at the cellular level. Our study compares the macroscopic results obtained by MRI, which are of indispensable diagnostic value, with microscopic data obtained postmortem by computer-controlled histological analysis.
> Funding provided by the National Institute of Mental Health via the HIV Neurobehavioral Research Center (HNRC) at UC San Diego.
