Chronic cocaine exposure in the SCID mouse model of HIV encephalitis

Clinical and preclinical evidence suggests that cocaine exposure hastens progression of the HIV disease process. An established active, euphoric dose of cocaine (20 mg/kg) was administered to SCID mice according to a regimen consistent with exposure to the drug by cocaine-abusing HIV-infected patients to determine the effects of cocaine on four previously established pathological characteristics of HIV encephalitis: cognitive deficits, fatigue, astrogliosis, and microgliosis. Mice were intracranially inoculated with either HIV-infected, or uninfected macrophages and then injected with either cocaine or saline in a 2 (Infection) × 2 (Cocaine) factorial design. Cognition was assessed by acquisition and retention of a spatially cued learning task. Fatigue was assessed by monitoring motor activity following a 2 min forced swim. Mice were then sacrificed to determine the extent of astrogliosis and microgliosis in the four groups. Results indicated that in comparison to uninfected controls, HIV positive mice had increased astrogliosis and microgliosis, cognitive deficits, and recovered more slowly from fatigue. However, despite evidence that the cocaine exposure regimen activated the central nervous system and had long-term CNS effects, the drug did not alter the behavioral or the neuropathological deficits noted in HIV-infected SCID mice.