Since HIV infection itself alters epigenetic
processes in the immune system, the research team wondered whether a
distinct DNA methylation profile, a major epigenetic modification where methyl groups are added to DNA, occurs in those with HIV associated -
cognitive impairment and whether it exists in
distinct immune cell populations from the blood.
Such differences might play
distinct roles in the pathogenic
processes of the psychiatric disorders, or be the result of the
cognitive states associated with OCD and DD.