HIV Infection Augments Drug Abuse-Related Neurotoxicity

Recent research from Spain shows that "HIV can directly infect the [central nervous system] and, as a result of such infection, neuropsychological alterations with cognitive, behavioral and motor manifestations can be developed." E. Vasquez-Justo and coauthors at the University of Santiago de Compostela sought "to determine whether seropositivity is associated with a poor neuropsychological performance in patients with a history of intravenous drug consumption (n=90)."

The scientists carried out "an extensive neuropsychological evaluation and compared their performance with that of two seronegative control groups, one comprised of subjects with no history of drug abuse (n=22), which allowed us to obtain a reference of normal neuropsychological performance, and the other of seronegative subjects with a history of drug abuse (n=48), which allowed us to differentiate whether the performance of the seropositive subjects derives from their history of drug abuse," they explained.

"The results reveal that HIV infection in drug users is associated with deficits in attention, verbal and visual memory, verbal skills, concept formation and reasoning, visual-constructive skills, manual dexterity and perceptive-motor speed, which cannot be attributed to a history of drug abuse," the report stated.

However, the authors noted, the seronegative drug users also showed some of the same changes, suggesting that being HIV-positive is not only associated with a decrease "in performance in these tasks, but also adds to the alterations seen in seronegative subjects as a consequence of drug abuse," the investigators concluded.

The study, "Neuropsychological Performance in HIV/AIDS Intravenous Drug Users," appeared in the Journal of Clinical and Experimental Neuropsychology (2003;25(6):852-865).

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