Markers of Neurological Damage Post Covid-19 in PLWH

Both HIV infection and Covid-19 are associated to cognitive and psychiatric impairment, like anxiety and depression. These disturbs are well-known in HIV infection and partially characterized in Covid-19.

HIV has an high neurotropism and the HIV-associated dementia was one of the most frequent clinical complications and principal cause of death before the introduction of antiretroviral theraphy (ART). However, also in PLWH taking ART and with suppressed viral load over years, the proportion of neuro-cognitive impairment, anxiety and depression remain higher then the general population. These problems may be the consequence of a persistent systemic and central nervous system (CNS) immuno-activation caused by the persistence of viral reservoir in the peripheric and tissutal lymphocytes. Neurological and psychiatric problems have been described in a variable proportion in patients with corona virus disease 19 (COVID-19) and in the complex it doesn't seems to be the direct consequence of CNS cellular infection, but rather of inflammation and coagulations disorder due to COVID-19 in the nervous tissue.