# Acute Neural and Immune Effects of Alcohol in People Living with HIV Infection

> **NIH NIH P20** · BROWN UNIVERSITY · 2021 · $261,097

## Abstract

PROJECT ABSTRACT
HIV infection and heavy alcohol use independently cause inflammation in systemic and neural immune
systems through multiple mechanisms. Both HIV and alcohol induce microbial translocation from the gut,
systemic immune activation, compromise of the blood-brain barrier, and neuroinflammation. Because 15% of
people living with HIV (PLWH) report heavy drinking in the past 30 days, the potential for alcohol to exacerbate
immunological and neural dysfunction in HIV is a serious public health concern. Observational research links
alcohol use in PLWH to brain abnormalities, cognitive impairment, and increased mortality. However, direct
experimental evidence on alcohol-HIV interactions in humans is scarce. COBRE CADRE Research Project 1
(RP1) will investigate whether alcohol use in the context of HIV infection exacerbates inflammatory signaling in
the peripheral immune system and central nervous system. Specifically, the study will examine acute effects of
moderate alcohol consumption on immune biomarkers, neurometabolites, brain white matter, and cognition in
PLWH and healthy controls. We will recruit 48 moderate drinkers who differ on HIV serostatus (24 seropositive
individuals, 24 seronegative matched controls) to participate in controlled beverage administration and
magnetic resonance imaging (MRI). Participants will be randomized to consume placebo (0 g alcohol/kg body
weight) or alcoholic beverage (.60 g/kg; target blood alcohol=.07g/dL). Blood samples will be taken at baseline
and for 3 hours after beverage consumption and assayed for plasma biomarkers of microbial translocation,
monocyte/macrophage activation, and cytokine response. The plasma ratio of kynurenine to tryptophan will be
used as a measure of immune activation relevant to HIV and drinking behavior. Cognition and subjective
intoxication will be assessed during the experiment using the standardized measures from the COBRE Clinical
Laboratory Core. MRI scans will be collected on the descending limb of alcohol and will focus on correlates of
neuroinflammation, including: 1) neurometabolites (choline, Glx, glutathione) in thalamus and frontal white
matter, using MR spectroscopy; 2) white matter diffusivity and extracellular free water, using diffusion-weighted
imaging (DWI). We hypothesize that alcohol will induce greater pro-inflammatory effects in PLWH, relative to
controls, 1) in the peripheral immune system, as reflected in plasma biomarker perturbations and tryptophan
degradation; 2) in the brain, as reflected in neurometabolic changes, diffusivity alterations, and increased
extracellular water. An exploratory aim tests the prediction that PLWH will show greater subjective intoxication
and cognitive impairment in the alcohol condition. The interdisciplinary research team and mentors have
experience and expertise in biobehavioral alcohol-HIV research to enable successful completion of this project.
RP1 aligns with the overarching COBRE CADRE goal: to identify mechanism...

## Key facts

- **NIH application ID:** 10259692
- **Project number:** 5P20GM130414-03
- **Recipient organization:** BROWN UNIVERSITY
- **Principal Investigator:** Mollie A Monnig
- **Activity code:** P20 (R01, R21, SBIR, etc.)
- **Funding institute:** NIH
- **Fiscal year:** 2021
- **Award amount:** $261,097
- **Award type:** 5
- **Project period:** 2019-08-01 → 2024-07-31

## Primary source

NIH RePORTER: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/10259692

## Citation

> US National Institutes of Health, RePORTER application 10259692, Acute Neural and Immune Effects of Alcohol in People Living with HIV Infection (5P20GM130414-03). Retrieved via AI Analytics 2026-05-24 from https://api.ai-analytics.org/grant/nih/10259692. Licensed CC0.

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