The Aids virus can continue to damage the brain, attacking regions that control movement, language and feeling, even when patients are receiving the most effective treatment, according to new research.

"Two big surprises came out of this study," explained Dr Paul Thompson, a British researcher at the David Geffen School of Medicine at the University of California, Los Angeles, and the first author of the paper with colleagues the University of Pittsburgh publishes today in the Proceedings¹ of the National Academy of Sciences.

"First, that Aids is selective in how it attacks the brain," he said. "Second, drug therapy does not appear to slow the damage. The brain provides a sanctuary² for HIV where most drugs cannot follow."

The researchers were most startled to see no difference in tissue loss between the patients taking highly-active anti-retroviral therapy (HAART) and those who were not.

"This was the most terrifying aspect of our findings," said Dr Thompson.

"Even though anti-retroviral drugs rescue the immune system, Aids is still stalking the brain. A protective blood barrier prevents drugs from entering the brain, transforming it into a reservoir where HIV can multiply and attack cells unchecked."

Dr Thompson's laboratory used a new, 3D brain-mapping technique to analyse scans taken by magnetic resonance³ imaging of 26 people diagnosed with Aids, and then compared the scans to those of 14 HIV-negative people. The brain scans measured the thickness of grey matter in various regions of the cerebral⁴ cortex.

The researchers were surprised to discover that Aids consistently injured the brain's motor, language and judgment⁵ centres, but left other areas alone.

One in 100 people aged⁶ 15 to 49 is infected with HIV, the fourth leading cause of death worldwide. In 2004, 40 million people were living with the disease. Forty percent of Aids patients suffer from progressive neurological symptoms, typically leading to death. 

　　参考译文：

　　一项最新研究结果显示，即使当艾滋病患者正在接受效果最为显著的治疗时，艾滋病病毒仍可继续对患者的大脑造成损害。病毒会对患者控制运动、语言和感觉的一些脑部区域继续进行“攻击”。

　　据英国《每日电讯报》网站10月11日报道，美国加利福尼亚大学大卫·格芬医学院的英国研究人员保罗·汤普森博士对此表示：“这项研究带给我们了两项惊人的发现。” 他说，“首先，艾滋病在攻击患者脑部时是有选择性的”，“其次，药物疗法看起来并不能减轻艾滋病病毒对患者脑部的损伤。大脑为HIV病毒提供了一个多数药物无法到达的避难所”。 　

　　然而，最让研究人员感到震惊的则是，接受高效抗逆转录病毒治疗（HAART）的患者和未接受该种治疗的患者，两者在脑组织损伤上竟看不出有什么差别。对此，汤普森博士说：“这是该研究发现中最让人觉得不可思议的一方面。”“尽管抗逆转录病毒药物挽救了人体的免疫细胞，但艾滋病病毒仍然会接近脑部。一个保护性的血液屏障会阻止药物进入大脑，从而将自身转变为一个‘蓄水池’，在这里，HIV病毒能够繁殖并对其它细胞发起攻击。”

　　汤普森博士的实验室使用了一种新的3D脑成像技术，对26名艾滋病患者的脑部核磁共振成像扫描图进行了分析研究。随后，又将这些扫描图与14名HIV呈阴性的人相比。脑部扫描可以测量出大脑皮层不同区域中的灰质厚度。研究人员惊奇地发现，艾滋病病毒会对脑部的运动神经、语言和判断中枢进行损害，但是对其它地方却置之不理。

　　报道说，汤普森博士是该研究论文的第一撰写人，他和美国匹兹堡大学的同事将这一研究成果发表在最新一期的美国国家科学院（NAS）学报上。

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