Peripheral Neuropathy Associated With Nucleoside Reverse Transcriptase Inhibitor Therapy

Peripheral neuropathies are the most common neurological syndromes associated with HIV infection. The spectrum of neuropathic syndromes is broad (xi238-1|Table 1), and neuropathies may be encountered during any stage of the infection. Some disorders of the peripheral nerves in patients with HIV infection are presumed to be caused by pathological factors resulting from the virus itself, whereas others may result from responses of a competent immune system to viral antigens, opportunistic processes unleashed when immune deficiency has occurred, or as adverse effects of therapies for AIDS-related diseases. To provide a context for understanding the toxic neuropathies, these other HIV-related neuropathies are briefly described in this first section.