Summary
Neurogenomic studies by the SCORCH (Single Cell Opioid Response in the Context of HIV) consortium strongly suggest that brains of individuals living with HIV in the context of opioid or (polys)substance use disorder (OUD/SUD) comorbidity harbor a molecular environment permissive for HIV viral replication and risk for cytotoxic damage. This conclusion also applied to donors who showed systemic, antiretroviral drug- mediated suppression of the virus. There was a stepwise progression of transcriptomic dysregulation in OUD+HIV+ brain, culminating in widespread neuronal pathology and pronounced inf
