Use of pentoxifylline therapy for patients with AIDS-related wasting: pilot study.
Severe weight loss is a common manifestation of advanced infection with the human immunodeficiency virus. The level of tumor necrosis factor alpha (TNF-alpha), an inducer of cachexia in laboratory animals, is elevated in the serum of some patients with AIDS. In a pilot study, five patients with unexplained AIDS-related wasting were treated with pentoxifylline, a known suppressor of TNF-alpha production. Three of the five patients had elevated baseline serum levels of TNF-alpha, and these three patients did not have significant weight gain after 4-8 weeks of pentoxifylline therapy despite the reduction of serum TNF-alpha levels. The remaining two patients, who did not have elevated serum levels of TNF-alpha, continued to lose weight and developed extensive bacterial pneumonia within 3 weeks of starting pentoxifylline therapy. Thus, therapy with pentoxifylline did not clearly benefit the patients with AIDS-related wasting in this uncontrolled pilot study; indeed, it might have been harmful for a subgroup of these patients.
Landman
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D
Department of Medicine, Department of Veterans Affairs Medical Center, Brooklyn, New York 11209.
Sarai
A
A
Sathe
S S
SS
D000163:Acquired Immunodeficiency Syndrome / Q000097:blood / Q000150:complications* / Q000401:mortality; D000328:Adult; D002100:Cachexia / Q000097:blood / Q000188:drug therapy* / Q000401:mortality; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D010431:Pentoxifylline / Q000009:adverse effects / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D010865:Pilot Projects; D011379:Prognosis; D014409:Tumor Necrosis Factor-alpha / Q000032:analysis*; D015431:Weight Loss / Q000187:drug effects*
D014409:Tumor Necrosis Factor-alpha; D010431:Pentoxifylline