title: Oculomotor disturbances in HIV-positive individuals treated with methadone.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Methadone substitution is claimed to be the most effective way of pharmacological management of human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) positive patients addicted to opioids. Possible and clinically the most relevant drug interactions are those between methadone and antiretroviral agents [13,18,25,32]. HIV causes cognitive impairment by infiltrating the central nervous system (CNS) in the initial phase of infection. The consequence of this is damage to the hippocampus, caudate nucleus, and basal ganglia [2,26].
  
  
  METHODS
  Eighty-six patients from the substitution program group were examined. The trial was conducted twice: before and about 1.5 hours after the administration of a therapeutic dose of methadone. The antisaccades task (AT) and latency task (LT) were performed using a saccadometer diagnostic system.
  
  
  RESULTS
  The statistical analysis showed that the mean duration of latency measured by AT in HIV(-) and HIV(+) subjects after the administration of a therapeutic dose of methadone was significantly increased (p=0.03 HIV(-); p=0.04 HIV(+)). There was a statistically significant increase in the mean latency after the administration of methadone in HIV(+) subjects when compared to the control group measured by LT (p=0.03).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  The statistical analysis confirms the change in the saccadic refixation parameters in patients addicted to opioids. Methadone influences saccadic dynamic parameters less in HIV(+) than in HIV(-) drug users. Oculomotor disturbances are probably related to the neurotropic effects of HIV leading to damage of the striatum, which plays an important role in psychomotor functions.
authors.affiliation: Non-public Health Care Center Sue Ryder Home in Bydgoszcz, Poland; Department of Theoretical Basis of Bio-Medical Sciences and Medical Informatics, CM UMK, Bydgoszcz, Poland.
authors.forename: Julia
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Feit
authors.affiliation: Airedale NHS Trust, Steeton, UK.
authors.forename: Marek
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Kunc
authors.affiliation: Jagiellonian University, Medical College, Faculty of Medicine, Krakow, Poland.
authors.forename: Piotr
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Walecki
authors.affiliation: Non-public Health Care Center Sue Ryder Home in Bydgoszcz, Poland; Department of Theoretical Basis of Bio-Medical Sciences and Medical Informatics, CM UMK, Bydgoszcz, Poland; Institute of Philosophy, Kazimierz Wielki University, Bydgoszcz, Poland.
authors.forename: Edward Jacek
authors.initials: EJ
authors.lastname: Gorzelańczyk
mesh_terms: D044966:Anti-Retroviral Agents / Q000009:adverse effects*; D001479:Basal Ganglia / Q000293:injuries; D001480:Basal Ganglia Diseases / Q000139:chemically induced*; D003342:Corpus Striatum / Q000293:injuries; D004347:Drug Interactions; D015658:HIV Infections / Q000188:drug therapy*; D006624:Hippocampus / Q000293:injuries*; D006801:Humans; D008691:Methadone / Q000009:adverse effects*; D012438:Saccades / Q000187:drug effects*
chemical_list: D044966:Anti-Retroviral Agents; D008691:Methadone