Viral heritability of neurocognitive performances in persons living with HIV and underlying viral residue variants.
16 affiliations
- 1Department of Infectious Diseases and Hospital Epidemiology, University Hospital Zurich, Zurich 8091, Switzerland.
- 2Institute of Medical Virology, University of Zurich, Zurich 8057, Switzerland.
- 3Division of Infectious Diseases and Leenaards Memory Centre, Lausanne University Hospital, University of Lausanne, Lausanne 1011, Switzerland.
- 4Division of Infectious Diseases, Ente Ospedaliero Cantonale, Lugano 6500, Switzerland.
- 5Department of Biomedical Sciences, University of Geneva and University of Southern Switzerland, Lugano 6900, Switzerland.
- 6Center for Infectious Diseases, Klinik im Park, Zurich 8027, Switzerland.
- 7Clinical Virology, University Hospital Basel, Basel 4031, Switzerland.
- 8Division of Infectious Diseases and Hospital Epidemiology, Cantonal Hospital St. Gallen, St. Gallen 9007, Switzerland.
- 9Division of Immunology and Allergy, Lausanne University Hospital, University of Lausanne, Lausanne 1011, Switzerland.
- 10Department of Infectious Diseases, Inselspital, Bern University Hospital, University of Bern, Bern 3010, Switzerland.
- 11Institute for Infectious Diseases and Multidisciplinary Center for Infectious Diseases, University of Bern, Bern 3012, Switzerland.
- 12Division of Infectious Diseases and Hospital Epidemiology, University Hospital Basel, University Basel, Basel 4031, Switzerland.
- 13Laboratory of Virology and Division of Infectious Diseases, Geneva University Hospital, University of Geneva, Geneva 1205, Switzerland.
- 14HIV/AIDS Unit, Division of Infectious Diseases, University Hospital Geneva, University of Geneva, Geneva 1205, Switzerland.
- 15Faculty of Medicine, University of Geneva, Geneva 1205, Switzerland.
- 16Division of Infectious Diseases, Lausanne University Hospital, University of Lausanne, Lausanne 1011, Switzerland.
Abstract
Neurocognitive impairments (NCI) affect up to 50% of persons living with HIV (PLWH), even under anti-retroviral therapy. Evidence suggests that HIV-1 genotypes at least in part contribute to NCI, but most studies considered composite scores and did not examine specific neurocognitive domains. We considered neurocognitive domains assessed in the Neurocognitive Assessment in the Metabolic and Ageing Cohort, a sub study of the Swiss HIV Cohort Study (SHCS), and determined associations with HIV-1 residues, detected by full-length genome sequencing, previously linked to self-reported neurocognitive complaints (SRNC) in the SHCS, using linear regression. Additionally, we determined the heritability with Brownian motion- and mixed models based on viral pol phylogenies. In 192 out of 981 PLWH with full-length sequences, among the top residue variants identified, Env641E and Rev18I had been previously associated with SRNC. Respectively, of identified residue variants, point estimates correlated highly with previous SRNC-estimates from the SHCS for sensory skills (r = -0.71, P < 0.0001) and speed of processing (r = -0.71, P < 0.0001). Heritability estimates in 981 PLWH were significant for sensory skills [25.9%, 95% confidence interval (CI) 5.5-44.6%], motor skills (24.3%, CI 3.7-43.3%), and speed of processing (23.5%, CI 5.2-40.7%). Our findings support prior observations regarding SRNC-associated viral residues and confirm the relevance of the infecting HIV-1 strains for neurocognitive performances.
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BibTeX
@article{zeeb2026viral,
title = {{Viral heritability of neurocognitive performances in persons living with HIV and underlying viral residue variants.}},
author = {Marius Zeeb and Mélanie Bieler-Aeschlimann and Paul Frischknecht and Kathrin Neumann and Lisa Jörimann and Jasmin Tschumi and Michael Huber and Katharina Kusejko and Enos Bernasconi and Helen Kovari and Karoline Leuzinger and Julia Notter and Matthieu Perreau and Cornelia Staehelin and Alban Ramette and Marcel Stöckle and Sabine Yerly and Alexandra Calmy and Karin J Metzner and Huldrych F Günthard and Matthias Cavassini and Roger D Kouyos and NAMACO Study Group and the Swiss HIV Cohort Study and NAMACO Study Group and the Swiss HIV Cohort Study},
journal = {Brain communications},
year = {2026},
month = oct,
doi = {10.1093/braincomms/fcag371},
url = {https://europepmc.org/article/MED/42910189},
note = {CC BY},
}
RIS
TY - JOUR
TI - Viral heritability of neurocognitive performances in persons living with HIV and underlying viral residue variants.
AU - Marius Zeeb
AU - Mélanie Bieler-Aeschlimann
AU - Paul Frischknecht
AU - Kathrin Neumann
AU - Lisa Jörimann
AU - Jasmin Tschumi
AU - Michael Huber
AU - Katharina Kusejko
AU - Enos Bernasconi
AU - Helen Kovari
AU - Karoline Leuzinger
AU - Julia Notter
AU - Matthieu Perreau
AU - Cornelia Staehelin
AU - Alban Ramette
AU - Marcel Stöckle
AU - Sabine Yerly
AU - Alexandra Calmy
AU - Karin J Metzner
AU - Huldrych F Günthard
AU - Matthias Cavassini
AU - Roger D Kouyos
AU - NAMACO Study Group and the Swiss HIV Cohort Study
AU - NAMACO Study Group and the Swiss HIV Cohort Study
PY - 2026
DA - 2026/10/05
JO - Brain communications
DO - 10.1093/braincomms/fcag371
UR - https://europepmc.org/article/MED/42910189
AB - Neurocognitive impairments (NCI) affect up to 50% of persons living with HIV (PLWH), even under anti-retroviral therapy. Evidence suggests that HIV-1 genotypes at least in part contribute to NCI, but most studies considered composite scores and did not examine specific neurocognitive domains. We considered neurocognitive domains assessed in the Neurocognitive Assessment in the Metabolic and Ageing Cohort, a sub study of the Swiss HIV Cohort Study (SHCS), and determined associations with HIV-1 residues, detected by full-length genome sequencing, previously linked to self-reported neurocognitive complaints (SRNC) in the SHCS, using linear regression. Additionally, we determined the heritability with Brownian motion- and mixed models based on viral pol phylogenies. In 192 out of 981 PLWH with full-length sequences, among the top residue variants identified, Env641E and Rev18I had been previously associated with SRNC. Respectively, of identified residue variants, point estimates correlated highly with previous SRNC-estimates from the SHCS for sensory skills (r = -0.71, P < 0.0001) and speed of processing (r = -0.71, P < 0.0001). Heritability estimates in 981 PLWH were significant for sensory skills [25.9%, 95% confidence interval (CI) 5.5-44.6%], motor skills (24.3%, CI 3.7-43.3%), and speed of processing (23.5%, CI 5.2-40.7%). Our findings support prior observations regarding SRNC-associated viral residues and confirm the relevance of the infecting HIV-1 strains for neurocognitive performances.
SN - 2632-1297
ER -