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Resting-state connectivity and spontaneous activity of ventromedial prefrontal cortex predict depressive symptomology and peripheral inflammation in HIV

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Abstract

Depression and chronic inflammation are common in persons infected with the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV+). Although depression and response to inflammatory challenge are shown to reflect activity in common neural networks, little is known regarding sub-clinical presentation in persons chronically infected with HIV. The relationship of resting-state functional connectivity (rsFC) between the subgenual anterior cingulate cortex (sgACC) and bilateral amygdala to Beck Depression Inventory-1 (BDI) scores were compared within a group of 23 HIV+ and 23 HIV-negative comparison adults. An interaction was found wherein lower rsFC between the sgACC and both right and left amygdala was associated with higher BDI scores in HIV+ individuals. Total BDI scores and plasma levels of IL-6, IL-8, TNF-α, and IL-10 made available from 10 of the HIV+ patients were regressed upon an index of spontaneous whole-brain activity at rest; i.e., the amplitude of low-frequency fluctuations (ALFFs). Elevated levels of depression and IL-6 were associated with increased ALFF in a cluster of voxels on the medial portion of the ventral surface of the frontal lobe (Brodmann Area 11). Within this sample of HIV+ individuals lower rsFC of the sgACC with subcortical limbic regions predicts greater burden of depressive symptomology whereas elevated activity in the adjacent BA 11 may reflect sickness, indexed by elevated IL-6, and associated depressive behaviors.

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Acknowledgments

The authors thank the study participants and the clinical and laboratory staff of the Hawaii Center for AIDS, and the staff at InVision Imaging.

Funding

This study was supported by NIH grants U54RR026136, U54MD007584, R01HL095135 and R21 N5080656.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Health Psychology, University of Miami, Coral Gables, FL, 33124, USA

    Roger C. McIntosh, Melissa Hidalgo & Judith D. Lobo

  2. University of Missouri-St Louis, St. Louis, MO, USA

    Robert Paul

  3. Hawaii Center for AIDS and Department of Tropical Medicine, Medical Microbiology and Pharmacology, John A. Burns School of Medicine, University of Hawai’i, Honolulu, HI, 96813, USA

    Lishomwa C. Ndhlovu & Kalpana J. Kallianpur

  4. Department of Psychology and Hawaii Center for AIDS, John A. Burns School of Medicine, University of Hawai’i, Honolulu, HI, 96813, USA

    Maegen Walker

  5. Hawaii Center for AIDS and Department of Medicine, John A. Burns School of Medicine, University of Hawai’i, Honolulu, HI, 96813, USA

    Cecilia M. Shikuma

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  1. Roger C. McIntosh
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  2. Robert Paul
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Correspondence to Roger C. McIntosh.

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McIntosh, R.C., Paul, R., Ndhlovu, L.C. et al. Resting-state connectivity and spontaneous activity of ventromedial prefrontal cortex predict depressive symptomology and peripheral inflammation in HIV. J. Neurovirol. 24, 616–628 (2018). https://doi.org/10.1007/s13365-018-0658-9

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