Peripheral neuropathy: zalcitabine reassessed.
Given that the long-term medical management of HIV infection necessitates making best use of all available antiretrovirals, it is somewhat surprising that the nucleoside analogue reverse transcriptase inhibitor (NRTI) zalcitabine is less commonly used. This may be due to the potential for peripheral neuropathy (PN) which has been associated with the use of this drug. The perception that zalcitabine is poorly tolerated appears to have arisen largely from the results of early monotherapy trials in patients with AIDS and low CD4 cell counts. In contrast, results of more recent studies show that PN is relatively infrequent when zalcitabine is used in combination with other antiretrovirals in current treatment settings.
Department of Genitourinary Medicine, Royal Liverpool University Hospital, UK.
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D019380:Anti-HIV Agents / Q000009:adverse effects* / Q000627:therapeutic use; D015658:HIV Infections / Q000150:complications* / Q000188:drug therapy; D006801:Humans; D010523:Peripheral Nervous System Diseases / Q000139:chemically induced*; D018894:Reverse Transcriptase Inhibitors / Q000009:adverse effects* / Q000627:therapeutic use; D012307:Risk Factors; D016047:Zalcitabine / Q000009:adverse effects* / Q000627:therapeutic use
D019380:Anti-HIV Agents; D018894:Reverse Transcriptase Inhibitors; D016047:Zalcitabine