Diagnostic significance of the determination of myelin basic protein in cerebrospinal fluid in HIV-associated neurological diseases

48 patients aged from 21 to 54 years, infected with human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) and presence of diseases of the central nervous system (CNS) were examined. CNS diseases included cerebral tuberculosis, viral encephalitis (caused by Epstein-Barr Virus (EBV), cytomegalovirus (CMV), herpes simplex virus (HSV)), encephalitis of unspecified etiology, cerebral toxoplasmosis, fungal meningitis. 29 (60.4%) of the patients were discharged from the hospital with a clinical improvement, and 19 (39.6%) of the patients died as a result of CNS disease. Significant differences in the content of the myelin basic protein (MBP) in the cerebrospinal fluid (CSF), depending on the outcome of the disease, were determined. The Median of MBP in deceased patients was 2.9 times higher than in the survived patients - 4.00 (1.90-7.70) ng/ml vs. 1.40 (0.99-2.00) ng/ml (p=0.002 U). An inverse correlation between the content of MBP in the CSF and the time from the determination of the HIV status to the manifestation of neurologic symptoms (rs=-0.30, p<0.05) was found. According to the results of the ROC analysis, the high risk of unfavorable course of HIV-associated CNS diseases is predicted when the concentration of MBP in the cerebrospinal fluid increases by more than 2 ng/ml (68.4% sensitivity, 75.9% specificity, 72.9% accuracy). The highest level of this protein was observed in patients with fungal lesions of the central nervous system (6.6 (1.9-7.8) ng/ml), and the lowest MBP level – in the group of patients with unspecified encephalitis (0.99 (0.9-1.1) ng/ml), which correlated to more favorable outcomes of the disease. The MBP in cerebrospinal fluid can be an important diagnostic and prognostic marker of HIV-associated neurological diseases.