? ? This application represents the renewal of National Neurological AIDS Bank (NNAB), a member of the National Neuro-AIDS Tissue Consortium (NNTC). NNAB is a longitudinal study of well-characterized subjects with advanced AIDS and HIV-seronegative (HIV-) subjects, who have agreed to have serial neurological and neuropsychological examinations during their life, and to donate blood, urine and cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) during life and their organs and tissues after their death. NNAB collects these tissues and organs and distributes them to qualified investigators for research into the pathogenesis of Neuro-AIDS. NNAB characterizes its cohort using standardized NNTC protocols in Neuromedicine, Neuropsychology, Psychiatry/Substance Abuse, and Neuropathology, to achieve consensus diagnoses that are monitored by the NNTC Quality Assurance Committees. In addition, NNAB independently collects information that is essential to study the association between co-morbid medical conditions, such as Hepatitis C virus (HCV) infection, hypertension, diabetes, lipid disorders, as well as the adverse effects of retroviral therapy and HIV neurological disease. The NNAB cohort is unique because of its diversity, and reflects the gender, ethnic, and racial distribution of AIDS in Los Angeles. NNAB is 85% male and 15% female; over 60% of our cohort is a member of racial and ethnic minorities, 20% are monolingual in Spanish, and 8% have less than 6 years of education. In this renewal, we plan to expand our cohort, utilizing our collaborations among UCLA Medical Center, Olive View-UCLA Medical Center, Charles R. Drew University, and USC University Hospital. NNAB has stimulated the development of independently funded projects studying CSF viral load, HCV and the nervous system, and magnetic resonance spectroscopy (MRS) as a tool for following HIV neurological disease. These projects and the information they generate further enrich the value of our tissue collection. NNAB provides an increasingly important resource that mirrors the changing face of the AIDS epidemic and is capable of adapting as the needs of investigators dictate. NNAB provides an invaluable resource to the NNTC, the scientific community, and people living with AIDS. ? ?
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