Similar pathologies were observed in mice overexpressing the HIV protein gp120, suggesting that this viral protein may be responsible for mitochondrial pathology found in HIVE.
HIV-1 genomes infecting different regions of the brain of one study subject with HIV encephalitis (HIVE) had a mosaic structure, being assembled from different combinations of evolutionarily distinct lineages in p17(gag), pol, individual hypervariable regions of gp120 (V1/V2, V3, V4, and V5), and gp41/nef.