The clinical utility of three frailty measures in identifying HIV-associated neurocognitive disorders.

Objective: Frailty measures vary widely and the optimal measure for predicting HIV-associated neurocognitive disorders (HAND) is unclear.

Design: A study was conducted to examine the clinical utility of three widely used frailty measures in identifying HIV-associated neurocognitive disorders.

Methods: The study involved 284 people with HIV (PWH) at least 50 years enrolled at UC San Diego's HIV Neurobehavioral Research Program.

Concurrent validity and reliability of at-home teleneuropsychological evaluations among people with and without HIV.

Objective: To determine the reliability of teleneuropsychological (TNP) compared to in-person assessments (IPA) in people with HIV (PWH) and without HIV (HIV-).

Methods: Participants included 80 PWH (M = 58.7, SD = 11.

Plasma biomarkers of vascular dysfunction uniquely relate to a vascular-risk profile of neurocognitive deficits in virally-suppressed adults with HIV.

Objective: Chronic inflammation and vascular dysfunction (e.g., chronic endothelial activation) are related yet dissociable mechanisms of HIV-associated neurocognitive impairment (NCI), even among those on antiretroviral therapy (ART).

Measuring the Frailty Phenotype and its Association with Cognition in Mid-Life and Older Age.

Background: Frailty is directly linked to physical robustness and cognitive decline in older age. The Fried Frailty phenotype (FP) is a construct composed of five core symptoms that has been studied predominately in older age. There is little research contrasting the psychometric properties of the FP in mid-life versus older age.

Fatigue is associated with worse cognitive and everyday functioning in older persons with HIV.

Objective: The aim of this study was to determine whether there are relationships between fatigue, cognition, and everyday functioning in older persons with and without HIV and to examine if associations remain after accounting for depression, anxiety, and sleep quality.

Methods: Sixty-nine persons with HIV (PWH) and 36 persons without HIV, aged 50-74 years, were recruited from ongoing studies at UC San Diego's HIV Neurobehavioral Research Program and from the community. Participants completed neuropsychological testing, a performance-based measure of everyday functioning, and self-report questionnaires of fatigue, depression, anxiety, sleep quality, and everyday functioning.

Loneliness, Risky Beliefs and Intentions about Practicing Safer Sex among Methamphetamine Dependent Individuals.

Background: Methamphetamine use is a known predictor of riskier sexual behaviors, which can have important public health implications (e.g., HIV-transmission risk).

Frailty Syndrome Is Associated with Poorer Self-Reported Sleep Quality Among Older Persons with Human Immunodeficiency Virus.

Older people with HIV (PWH) experience heightened risk for the acquisition of cumulative, multisystem decline, that is, frailty syndrome. Frailty relates to poorer sleep quality in the general older adult population; however, this association has yet to be explored among PWH. A cross-sectional analysis of 285 PWH ≥50 years of age (mean age 60.

Use of digital health technologies to examine subjective and objective sleep with next-day cognition and daily indicators of health in persons with and without HIV.

Most previous studies investigating sleep's association with health outcomes have relied on averaged sleep quality and laboratory-based health measures. This study examines the dynamic within-person relationships between subjective (Ecological Momentary Assessment) and objective sleep (actigraphy) on next-day cognition (subjective and objective), mood, and engagement in daily activities using linear mixed-effects regression modeling. Participants included 94 individuals (59 people with HIV, 35 HIV-) aged 50-74, assessed daily for 14 consecutive days/nights.

Daily Cannabis Use is Associated With Lower CNS Inflammation in People With HIV.

Objective: Recent cannabis exposure has been associated with lower rates of neurocognitive impairment in people with HIV (PWH). Cannabis's anti-inflammatory properties may underlie this relationship by reducing chronic neuroinflammation in PWH. This study examined relations between cannabis use and inflammatory biomarkers in cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) and plasma, and cognitive correlates of these biomarkers within a community-based sample of PWH.

Social Isolation Is Linked to Inflammation in Aging People With HIV and Uninfected Individuals.

Background: Even in the era of suppressive antiretroviral therapy, people with HIV (PWH) suffer greater exposure to inflammation than their uninfected peers. Although poor social support and social isolation have been linked to systemic inflammation in the general population, it is not known whether this is true also among PWH.

Methods: People with and without HIV infection were enrolled in a community-based, single-center study.

Brief Report: Frailty and HIV Disease Severity Synergistically Increase Risk of HIV-Associated Neurocognitive Disorders.

Background: Frailty disproportionally affects people with HIV (PWH) and increased frailty in this already vulnerable population is associated with worse neurocognitive functioning. Whether frailty interacts with current and modifiable markers of HIV disease severity to synergistically increase risk for HIV-associated neurocognitive disorders (HAND), however, is unknown and important for informing the clinical care of aging PWH.

Setting: UC San Diego's HIV Neurobehavioral Research Program.

Lifetime Methamphetamine Use Disorder and Reported Sleep Quality in Adults Living with HIV.

This study evaluated whether a history of lifetime methamphetamine (MA) use disorder increases risk for poor sleep quality in people with or without HIV infection (HIV+/HIV-). Participants (n = 313) were stratified into four groups based on HIV status and lifetime MA use disorder diagnosis [HIV+/MA+ (n = 84); HIV+/MA- (n = 141); HIV-/MA+ (n = 16); and HIV-/MA- (n = 72)] and compared on global sleep outcomes using the Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index (PSQI). Significant differences on global sleep were observed between HIV+/MA+ and HIV+/MA- groups, but not between the HIV- groups.

Social support moderates D-dimer and self-rated successful aging within people with HIV and older adults.

Many factors can influence perceptions of successful aging (SA), including social isolation and poor physical health. We hypothesized that social support attenuates the negative effect of plasma D-dimer, a correlate of HIV and aging, on SA. Participants included 230 adults (134 people with HIV; PWH, 96 HIV-), ages 36-65, segregated into age cohorts with up to 5 yearly visits.

Pre-frailty predicts cognitive decline at 2-year follow-up in persons living with HIV.

Both HIV disease and frailty syndrome are risk factors for neurocognitive impairment. Longitudinal research among individuals of the general population suggests that frailty predicts future cognitive decline; however, there is limited evidence for these longitudinal relationships among people living with HIV (PLWH). The current study evaluated and compared rates of cognitive decline over 2 years among HIV serostatus and frailty status groups.

Neuropsychological correlates of subjective fatigue in non-demented older adults and the moderating effect of physical activity.

This study examined the association between self-reported fatigue and neuropsychological performance in 167 middle-aged and older (age range: 50-91 years) adults without dementia. Participants completed the Fatigue Symptom Inventory, a comprehensive neuropsychological evaluation, and frailty assessment. Higher levels of fatigue were significantly associated with poorer attention/information processing, executive functioning, and psychomotor speed, even after controlling for depression, sleep quality, physical weakness, and other covariates.

Sleep quality mediates the relationship between frailty and cognitive dysfunction in non-demented middle aged to older adults.

Unlabelled: ABSTRACTObjectives:Frailty is associated with cognitive decline in older adults. However, the mechanisms explaining this relationship are poorly understood. We hypothesized that sleep quality may mediate the relationship between frailty and cognition.

Regulation of the macrophage oxytocin receptor in response to inflammation.

It has been demonstrated that the neuropeptide oxytocin (OT) attenuates oxidative stress and inflammation in macrophages. In the current study, we examined the role of inflammation on the expression of the oxytocin receptor (OXTR). We hypothesized that OXTR expression is increased during the inflammation through a nuclear factor-κB (NF-κB)-mediated pathway, thus responding as an acute-phase protein.