Main description:

It is remarkable that each month the quantity ofarticles published on AIDS still that address numbers in the thousands. The basic, clinical and sociological aspects this epidemic have been vigorously investigated, and equally as extensively reported in traditional as well as new journals. Therefore, what can the reader ofthis volume expect to find that is different from the information already found in the literature? The authors of this text met in October 1993 to discuss not only AIDS and its effects on the nervous system but also to address the problem from the point of view of the diverse technologies that are used in understanding the disease. Just as the recog nition ofoncogenic viruses gave us insights into cellular genes that govern growth, the study ofHIV-I in the nervous system has opened new areas ofinvestigation in the nervous system. Use of human fetal and glioma-derived cell cultures, discovery of toxins in the nervous system, release and damage of cytokines in the brain, the neuropathic effects of HIV proteins, the investigation of new treatment for neuro AIDS, and virus detection strategies to identify latent HIVI infection are described in this volume. Basic and clinical investigators from more than thirty laboratories around the world contributed to the ideas discussed at the meeting, "Technical Advances in AIDS Research in the Human Nervous System.

Contents:

New Concepts in the Pathogenesis of HIV1 Encephalopathy: HIV Encephalopathy: Clinical and Diagnostic Considerations (J.R. Berger, R. Kaderman). Models of HIV1 Infection and Neurotoxicity in the Human Fetal Nervous System: Overview: Models of HIV1 Infection and Neurotoxicity in the Human Fetal Nervous System (L.G. Epstein). Model Cell Cultures from Adult Brain and Glioma Cell Lines: Molecular Interaction of HIV1 in Glioma Cells (V. Erfle et al.). Neurotropism of HIV1 Strains: Contribution of V3 and Reverse Transcriptase Sequence Analysis to Understanding the Concept of HIV1 Neurotropism (F. Chiordi et al.). Molecular Technology for the Detection and Analysis of HIV1 in Nervous System Tissue: Detection of HIV1 Gene Sequences in Brain Tissue by in situ Polymerase Chain Reaction (O. Bagasra et al.). Development of New Techniques and Methods Applied to AIDS: Technology in PCR and PCR Evaluation Technology and Its Application to the Study of Cerebrospinal Fluid in HIV Disease (P. Schmid). Focus on AIDS and the Nervous System: Challenges During the Decade of the Brain: Treatment of the Neurological Complications in AIDS: The AIDS Clinical Trials Group in the 1990s (D.B. Clifford). 18 additional articles. Index.