Virus 'hides in brain’

Press, 19 December 1985, Page 44

Virus 'hides in brain’

NZPA-Reuter Boston Medical researchers have found evidence that the virus responsible for the disease, A.1.D.5., hides and spreads in the brain, which may make finding a cure more difficult, according to a report. Two separate teams of doctors reported in the “New England Journal of Medicine” that they had isolated the virus in brain and spinal fluid taken from A.1.D.& patients suffering from brain and nerve disorders that are beginning to be associated with acquired immune deficiency syndrome.

The presence of the A.I.D.S. virus in the brain may make it difficult to

cure the disease because a membrane sheath called the blood-brain barrier prevents most drugs in the blood from reaching the brain.

The discovery “raises the possibility that the central nervous system may serve as a sanctuary for the virus and that any effective antiviral treatment must penetrate the blood-brain barrier for successful eradication,” said a team led by Dr David Ho, of Massachusetts General Hospital. Those factors, said a colPaul Black, of the Boston University School of Medicine, “will make eradication of infection of the central nervous system very difficult, if not impossible.” From its safe haven in

the brain, Dr Black reported, the A.I.D.S. virus may alter the brain and contribute to the crippling of the immune system that is the hallmark of the disease. Both the Ho team and a second group led by Dr Lionel Resnick, of the United States National Institute of Health, found that the virus is probably responsible for the brain disorders that have recently been found to accompany A.I.D.S. These include a deterioration of the brain and spinal cord, chronic meningitis, and weakness in the hands and legs.

When the ’ researchers tested the spinal fluid of A.I.D.S. sufferers with nerv-

ous system disorders, they found evidence of the virus in most of the cases. At least one of the five patients in the Ho study showed signs of the A.I.D.S. virus only after developing meningitis. The Ho group said their results showed that the nervous system problems may develop before the immune system of an A.I.D.S. victim breaks down. The Resnick team said their results also indicate that the A.I.D.S. virus, known as HTLV-111, may grow and spread in the brain without producing brain and nerve disorders.