# Neurometabolic profile of tobacco smoking in HIV-infected Individuals

> **NIH NIH R00** · CHILDREN'S HOSP OF PHILADELPHIA · 2024 · $249,000

## Abstract

Project Summary
Tobacco smoking is a serious public health concern and is 2 to 3 times more prevalent among HIV-infected
individuals than the general population. Smoking reduces the efficacy of combination antiretroviral therapy and
substantially impacts the long-term survival of HIV-infected individuals. Several studies have suggested that
chronic tobacco (cigarette) smoking and HIV infection have harmful additive or synergistic effects on the brain,
leading to greater psychopathology, impulsivity and cognitive dysfunction. Little is known about the
neurochemical profile related to the combined effects of HIV infection and smoking. HERCULES is a novel J-
difference-edited magnetic resonance spectroscopy (MRS) technique that can measure up to seven low-
concentration brain metabolites (e.g., GABA) with relatively short scan times. However, HERCULES is sensitive
to subject motion, which affects both localization accuracy and spectral quality. Both HIV-infected subjects and
tobacco smokers have greater impulsivity that might lead to greater subject motion. Therefore, the aims of this
project are: 1) K99 phase: the candidate will be mentored in the development of the motion-corrected
HERCULES sequence, which will allow robust investigation of these neurometabolites; he will also assess the
reproducibility of HERCULES with and without motion correction in seronegative (SN) healthy controls; 2) K99
phase: to learn to conduct a pilot clinical study using the optimized motion-corrected HERCULES to evaluate the
neurometabolic profile of HIV-infected individuals or tobacco smokers, compared to SN healthy controls; 3) R00
phase: to measure a comprehensive neurochemical profile in four groups of individuals (SN/tobacco-,
HIV+/tobacco-, SN/tobacco+, HIV+/tobacco+), using the motion-corrected HERCULES sequence. Based on the
proposed clinical training and didactic courses, the candidate will work with experienced globally recognized
experts in the fields of MRS and clinical HIV research to achieve five training goals: (1) develop expertise in
research design and clinical assessments of HIV-infected individuals and tobacco smokers; (2) conduct a pilot
study to evaluate the independent effects of HIV and tobacco smoking on neurometabolite levels; (3) learn to
apply an advanced MRS technique to clinical research, especially in HIV+ individuals and tobacco smokers; and
(4) learn to apply advanced statistical methods to analyze complex clinical data from patient populations. The
long-term career objective of the candidate is to become an independent scientist with a complete repertoire of
skills in MRS methodologies and their clinical applications. The motion-corrected HERCULES can be applied to
study metabolic processes in other diseases as well, adding scope and impact to this research proposal, which
is also responsive to NIDA’s mission of “strategically supporting and conducting basic and clinical research on
drug use (including nicotine), its consequences, and...

## Key facts

- **NIH application ID:** 10894835
- **Project number:** 5R00DA051315-04
- **Recipient organization:** CHILDREN'S HOSP OF PHILADELPHIA
- **Principal Investigator:** Muhammad G Saleh
- **Activity code:** R00 (R01, R21, SBIR, etc.)
- **Funding institute:** NIH
- **Fiscal year:** 2024
- **Award amount:** $249,000
- **Award type:** 5
- **Project period:** 2021-05-01 → 2026-07-31

## Primary source

NIH RePORTER: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/10894835

## Citation

> US National Institutes of Health, RePORTER application 10894835, Neurometabolic profile of tobacco smoking in HIV-infected Individuals (5R00DA051315-04). Retrieved via AI Analytics 2026-05-24 from https://api.ai-analytics.org/grant/nih/10894835. Licensed CC0.

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