Scientists have created a model that can monitor the movement and development of an HIV infection in the brain. HIV virus can move to brain of infected macrophage 14 days after infection.
Antiretroviral drugs cannot get into the brain easily, brain is one of the reservoirs of HIV virus. Scientists have confirmed that HIV can survive in another less-explored type of white blood cell.
It can also persist exclusively in macrophages, large white blood cells found in the liver, lung, bone marrow and brain. This is the reason why Antiretroviral drugs can suppress the virus but not being able to kill it.
There were some evidence of brain damage from early HIV infection. The
virus can still affect the brain even if there is undetectable levels of HIV in the blood.