| First Author | Barbe MF | Year | 2020 |
| Journal | PLoS One | Volume | 15 |
| Issue | 12 | Pages | e0244725 |
| PubMed ID | 33382797 | Mgi Jnum | J:299513 |
| Mgi Id | MGI:6500798 | Doi | 10.1371/journal.pone.0244725 |
| Citation | Barbe MF, et al. (2020) A longitudinal characterization of sex-specific somatosensory and spatial memory deficits in HIV Tg26 heterozygous mice. PLoS One 15(12):e0244725 |
| abstractText | The pathogenesis of human immunodeficiency virus associated neurological disorders is still not well understood, yet is known to result in neurological declines despite combination anti-retroviral therapy. HIV-1 transgenic (Tg26) mice contain integrated non-infectious HIV-1 proviral DNA. We sought to assess the integrity of neurocognitive function and sensory systems in HIV-1 Tg26 mice using a longitudinal design, in both sexes, to examine both age- and sex-related disease progression. General neurological reflexive testing showed only acclimation to repeated testing by all groups. Yet, at 2.5 months of age, female Tg26 +/- mice showed hyposensitivity to noxious hot temperatures, compared to wild types (both sexes) and male Tg26 +/- mice, that worsened by 10 months of age. Female Tg26 +/- mice had short-term spatial memory losses in novel object location memory testing at 2.5 and 7 months, compared to female wild types; changes not observed in male counterparts. Female Tg26 +/- mice showed mild learning deficits and short- and long-term spatial memory deficits in olfactory and visually cued Barnes Maze testing at 3 months of age, yet greater learning and memory deficits by 8 months. In contrast, male Tg26 +/- mice displayed no learning deficits and fewer spatial memory deficits (mainly heading errors in nontarget holes). Thus, greater sex-specific temperature hyposensitivity and spatial memory declines were observed in female HIV Tg26 +/- mice, than in male Tg26 +/- mice, or their wild type littermates, that increased with aging. Additionally, tibial bones were examined using ex vivo micro-CT after tissue collection at 11 months. Sex-dependent increases in bone volume and trabecular number were seen in males, matching their greater weights at this age. These results indicate that HIV-1 Tg26 mice is a promising model in which to study neuropathic mechanisms underlying peripheral pathology as well as cognitive deficits seen with HIV. |
