Long-term administration of 3'-azido-2',3'-dideoxythymidine to patients with AIDS-related neurological disease.
3'-Azido-2',3'-dideoxythymidine (AZT) has been administered to 7 patients with human immunodeficiency virus-associated neurological disease: 3 with dementia, 2 with peripheral neuropathy, 1 with dementia and peripheral neuropathy, and 1 with T-10 paraplegia. Six of the patients showed improvement in their neurological dysfunction on being administered AZT, as assessed by clinical evaluation, neuropsychological testing, nerve conduction studies, and/or positron emission tomographic scans. Three of these 6 patients showed sustained improvement 5 to 18 months after the initiation of AZT therapy. These results suggest that certain human immunodeficiency virus-associated neurological abnormalities are at least partially reversible following the administration of antiretroviral therapy and provide a rationale for further studies using antiretroviral chemotherapy.
Yarchoan
R
R
National Cancer Institute, Bethesda, MD 20892.
Thomas
R V
RV
Grafman
J
J
Wichman
A
A
Dalakas
M
M
McAtee
N
N
Berg
G
G
Fischl
M
M
Perno
C F
CF
Klecker
R W
RW
D000163:Acquired Immunodeficiency Syndrome / Q000134:cerebrospinal fluid / Q000150:complications*; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D002986:Clinical Trials as Topic; D003704:Dementia / Q000134:cerebrospinal fluid / Q000150:complications / Q000188:drug therapy*; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D010264:Paraplegia / Q000134:cerebrospinal fluid / Q000150:complications / Q000188:drug therapy*; D010523:Peripheral Nervous System Diseases / Q000134:cerebrospinal fluid / Q000150:complications / Q000188:drug therapy*; D013936:Thymidine / Q000031:analogs & derivatives* / Q000493:pharmacokinetics / Q000627:therapeutic use; D013997:Time Factors; D015215:Zidovudine
D015215:Zidovudine; D013936:Thymidine