A study in HIV-infected men who have sex with men and transgender women enrolled within 100 days from the estimated date of detectable infection showed that biomarkers of CNS inflammation, immune activation and neuronal injury peak early and then decline during acute HIV infection.10 The absence of changes after 48 weeks of antiretroviral therapy might suggest that tau, UCHL-1 and BDNF are not altered during PHI or that pathological processes in neuronal damage, signalling and ubiquitin–proteasome involvement might persist despite early combination antiretroviral treatment. The gene discussed is BDNF; the disease is HIV infectious disease.