Elevated Levels of Metabolites in CSF Play a Role in HIV Patients with CNS Damage
A team of scientists from The Scripps Research Institute found an increased concentration of certain metabolites in the cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) of monkeys with SIV-induced central nervous system (CNS) disease, a model for HIV patients with CNS damage. The investigators used global metabolomics to assess the levels of metabolites in CSF before and after SIV-induced encephalitis appeared. They found elevated levels in four categories: carnitine, acyl-carnitines, fatty acids, and phospholipids. Consistent with this, the team reports, a protein known to be important in the generation of fatty acids was increased in the brains of monkeys with SIV-induced encephalitis. The elevation in free fatty acids and lysophospholipids correlated with increased expression of specific phospholipases in the brains of animals with encephalitis, according to the researchers. One of these, phospholipase A2 isoenzyme, is capable of releasing a number of the fatty acids identified. It was expressed in d...