Severe lactic acidosis and thiamine administration in an HIV-infected patient on HAART.

Severe lactic acidosis has been increasingly reported as a potentially fatal complication of HIV treatment. We report on an asymptomatic HIV-infected woman treated with stavudine, lamivudine and indinavir for one year. She was hospitalized because of progressive dispnoea, oedema, cyanosis and severe lactic acidosis. Arterial blood pH was 6.98, bicarbonate 4.4 mmol/l (normal value 22-26), blood lactate: 29.7 mmol/l (normal value <2.2). Hepatic function was normal. She had an impressively rapid response (within a few hours) to empirical treatment with thiamine (100 mg i.v.). No evidence of sepsis or malabsorption were identified and vitamin B1 level was not tested before thiamine infusion. Three months later she was re-started successfully on nelfinavir plus nevirapine. The rapid response to thiamine infusion deserves a careful attention and such an approach should be considered in similar cases as a support treatment of this potentially life-threatening complication of HIV therapy.

Four drug-HAART in primary HIV-1 infection: clinical benefits and virologic parameters.

BACKGROUND: From a theoretical standpoint, primary HIV infection (PHI) represents a great chance to modify the natural history of the disease. In this study we purposed a four drugs regimen with zidovudine, lamivudine, ritonavir and saquinavir to treat aggressively the infection and achieve a complete immune reconstitution. METHODS: This is an Italian multicentric open label study. Adult patients with PHI were eligible for the study if they met at least one clinical criterion and one laboratory criterion of the following. Clinical criteria: Signs and symptoms of acute retroviral syndrome within the past 70 days, exposure to HIV-1 within the last 3 months, a preceding negative antibody test within the past 6 months. Laboratory criteria: Detectable p24 antigen with neutralization in serum; detectable HIV-RNA in plasma; indeterminate Western blot test with negative or low positive value HIV antibody in ELISA test. RESULTS: Since April 1997 to April 1999 40 patients with PHI have been enrolled; 80% of this cohort referred symptoms related to acute antiretroviral syndrome. Treatment has been withdrawn in 17 patients (12 for intolerance, 3 for toxicity and 2 for failure). At baseline the mean CD4+ T cells count and CD4/CD8 ratio were 537 (range 55-1287) and 0.58 (range 0.1-1.03) and the mean plasma HIV-RNA level was 5.9 log copies/ml (range 3-7.15). Plasmatic HIV-1 RNA levels of all patients dropped below 200 copies/ml in 68% of patients at week 12, 81% at week 24, 93% after 12 months and 100% after 18 months. Immunological parameters have been improved and have achieved normal range since 6th month. CONCLUSIONS: A rapid virologic suppression and immunological reconstitution are associated with PHI therapy. However early treatment should be weighted against the potential disadvantages such as immediate adverse events (intolerance and drug toxicity) and long term manifestation (metabolic disorders).