Effects of early human immunodeficiency virus infection on cerebral white matter blood flow autoregulation

Blood flow autoregulation in cerebral white matter was measured before and after acute nicardipine-induced changes in mean arterial pressure of 10-21% in 21 treatment naïve HIV-positive adults and 32 controls. The autoregulatory index (-% cerebral blood flow change/% mean arterial pressure change) was not different at baseline ( P = 0.71) or after 1 year of treatment ( n = 11, P = 0.17). We found no autoregulatory defect to explain the increased stroke risk or the development of cerebral white damage in people with HIV.