Brief Report: Polymorphisms in CAMKK2 may Influence Domain-Specific Neurocognitive Function in HIV+ Indonesians Receiving ART

Despite effective antiretroviral therapy (ART), milder forms of HIV-associated neurocognitive disorders remain prevalent and are characterized by neuroinflammation, synaptic dysfunction, and neuronal loss. We explore associations between neurocognitive impairment in HIV+ Indonesians and 17 polymorphisms in adjacent genes involved in inflammation and neuronal growth/repair pathways, P2X4R and CAMKK2. HIV+ Indonesians (n = 59) who had received ART for 12 months were assessed to derive Z-scores for the attention, fluency, memory, executive, and motor speed domains relative to local control subjects. These were used to determine total cognitive scores. No alleles of P2X4R displayed significant associations with neurocognition in bivariate or multivariable analyses. In CAMKK2, rs2686344 influenced total cognitive scores in bivariate analyses (P = 0.04). Multivariable linear regression modeling independently associated rs2686344 with higher executive function Z-scores (P = 0.05) after adjusting for CD4 T-cell counts (adjusted R2 = 0.103, model P = 0.034), whereas rs1653588 associated with lower and rs1718120 (P = 0.05) with higher fluency Z-scores (P = 0.05) after adjusting for education and log10 HIV RNA copies/mL (adjusted R2 = 0.268, model P = 0.001). Polymorphisms in CAMKK2 may influence neurocognitive outcomes in specific domains in HIV+ Indonesians receiving ART for 12 months.