Ghrelin, Amylin, Gastric Inhibitory Peptide and Cognition in Middle-Aged HIV-Infected and Uninfected Women: The Women's Interagency HIV Study.

Objective: To explore the gut-brain axis by examining gut hormone levels and cognitive test scores in women with (HIV+) and without (HIV-) HIV infection.

Design/methods: Participants included 356 women (248 HIV+, 108 at risk HIV-) in the Brooklyn Women's Interagency HIV Study (WIHS) with measured levels of ghrelin, amylin and gastric inhibitory peptide (GIP), also known as glucose-dependent insulinotropic polypeptide. Cross-sectional analyses using linear regression models estimated the relationship between gut hormones and Trails A, Trails B, Stroop interference time, Stroop word recall, Stroop color naming and reading, and Symbol Digit Modalities Test (SDMT) with consideration for age, HIV infection status, Wide Range Achievement Test score (WRAT), CD4 count, insulin resistance, drug use, and race/ethnicity.

Leptin, Adiponectin and Cognition in Middle-aged HIV-infected and Uninfected Women. The Brooklyn Women's Interagency HIV Study.

Context: Case-control study of women with and without HIV infection.

Objective: To explore the association of cognition and the adipokines, leptin and adiponectin (total; high molecular weight, HMW), in women with (HIV+) and without HIV (HIV-) infection.

Design: Cross-sectional analyses of adipokines and cognition using linear regression models of log-transformed adipokines, and Trails A, Trails B, Stroop interference time, Stroop word recall, Stroop color naming and reading, and Symbol Digit Modalities Test (SDMT) with consideration for age, HIV infection status, education, CD4 count, diabetes, body mass index (BMI), waist circumference (WC) and race/ethnicity.

Association of the Fractal Dimension of Retinal Arteries and Veins with Quantitative Brain MRI Measures in HIV-Infected and Uninfected Women.

Objective: The fractal dimension of retinal arteries and veins is a measure of the complexity of the vascular tree. We hypothesized that retinal fractal dimension would be associated with brain volume and white matter integrity in HIV-infected women.

Design: Nested case-control within longitudinal cohort study.

Liver Fibrosis Linked to Cognitive Performance in HIV and Hepatitis C.

Objective: Because HIV impairs gut barriers to pathogens, HIV-infected adults may be vulnerable to minimal hepatic encephalopathy in the absence of cirrhosis.

Background: Cognitive disorders persist in up to one-half of people living with HIV despite access to combination antiretroviral therapy. Minimal hepatic encephalopathy occurs in cirrhotic patients with or without HIV infection and may be associated with inflammation.

First translational 'Think Tank' on cerebrovascular disease, cognitive impairment and dementia.

As the human population continues to age, an increasing number of people will exhibit significant deficits in cognitive function and dementia. It is now recognized that cerebrovascular, metabolic and neurodegenerative diseases all play major roles in the evolution of cognitive impairment and dementia. Thus with our more recent recognition of these relationships and our need to understand and more positively impact on this world health problem, "The Leo and Anne Albert Charitable Trust" (Gene Pranzo, Trustee with significant support from Susan Brogan, Meeting Planner) provided generous support for this inaugural international workshop that was held from April 13-16, 2015 at the beautiful Ritz Carlton Golf Resort in North Naples, Florida.

Associations of cerebrovascular and Alzheimer's disease pathology with brain atrophy.

Cortical atrophy and brain vascular disease are both associated with dementia, but there are only limited pathological data on the association of brain vascular disease with cortical atrophy. We studied pathological material from the Rush Memory and Aging Project (MAP, N = 445). Cortical and hippocampal atrophy, and atherosclerosis at the circle of Willis (large vessel disease, LVD) and arteriolosclerosis (small vessel disease, SVD) were rated by neuropathologists unaware of this study's hypothesis.

Anthropometric measures and cognition in middle-aged HIV-infected and uninfected women. The Women's Interagency HIV Study.

This study aimed to explore the relationship of body mass index (BMI), waist circumference (WC), and waist-to-hip ratio (WHR) with cognition in women with (HIV+) and without HIV (HIV-) infection. One thousand six hundred ninety participants (1,196 HIV+, 494 HIV-) in the Women's Interagency HIV Study (WIHS) with data available on anthropometric measures comprise the analytical sample. Cross-sectional analyses using linear regression models estimated the relationship between anthropometric variables and Trails A, Trails B, Stroop interference time, Stroop word recall, Stroop color naming and reading, and Symbol Digit Modalities Test (SDMT) with consideration for age, HIV infection status, Wide Range Achievement Test score, CD4 count, insulin resistance, drug use, and race/ethnicity.

Associations of cardiovascular variables and HAART with cognition in middle-aged HIV-infected and uninfected women.

Despite the use of highly active anti-retroviral treatment (HAART), cognitive impairment remains prevalent in HIV. Indeed a recent study suggested that in certain instances, stopping HAART was associated with improved cognitive function (Robertson et al. Neurology 74(16):1260-1266 2010).

Relationship of ethnicity, age, education, and reading level to speed and executive function among HIV+ and HIV- women: the Women's Interagency HIV Study (WIHS) Neurocognitive Substudy.

Use of neuropsychological tests to identify HIV-associated neurocognitive dysfunction must involve normative standards that are well suited to the population of interest. Norms should be based on a population of HIV-uninfected individuals as closely matched to the HIV-infected group as possible and must include examination of the potential effects of demographic factors on test performance. This is the first study to determine the normal range of scores on measures of psychomotor speed and executive function among a large group of ethnically and educationally diverse HIV-uninfected, high-risk women, as well as their HIV-infected counterparts.

A C17T polymorphism in the mu opiate receptor is associated with quantitative measures of drug use in African American women.

Previous studies of the association of the C17T polymorphism of the mu opiate receptor gene with substance dependence compared cases with substance dependence to controls and usually found no significant association. However, the studies were limited by small sample size-no study had more than 12 subjects with the TT genotype, a genotype that is rare in white and Asian subjects. Moreover, drug use is not dichotomous but follows a spectrum from non-use to modest, intermittent use, to use several times daily.

Computerized cognitive assessment of mild cognitive impairment in urban African Americans.

Few objective cognitive assessment tools have been validated for mild cognitive impairment (MCI) in African Americans despite higher prevalence of disease. This preliminary study evaluated discriminant validity of a computerized cognitive assessment battery for MCI in an urban African American cohort. Twenty-seven participants with MCI and 22 cognitively healthy individuals completed a multidomain battery (Mindstreams, NeuroTrax Corp, New Jersey).

Screening for dementia by telephone using the memory impairment screen.

Objectives: : To develop and assess telephone-based screening tests for dementia, especially Alzheimer's disease (AD).

Design: : A cross-sectional validation study nested within a longitudinal study of aging and dementia.

Setting: : The Einstein Aging Study of the Albert Einstein College of Medicine, Bronx, New York.