Important note: Information in this article was accurate in September 2002. The state of the art may have changed since the publication date.AIDSWEEKLY Plus; September 2, 2002
Michael Greer, Senior Medical Writer
"Persons with HIV infection have increased rates of drug eruptions," explained Muriel Eliaszewicz and colleagues at the Pasteur Institute Hospital in Paris and other institutions in Paris, Creteil, and Boulogne.
After investigating the risk factors for these reactions in HIV patients, Eliaszewicz and coauthors said that their results run counter to conventional wisdom on drug eruptions.
The researchers examined 136 AIDS patients who were about to undergo sulfonamide treatment for toxoplasmosis or pneumocystosis. More than a third of these patients developed rashes or other eruptions in response to sulfonamide therapy, according to the report.
Patients younger than 36 years of age had an eruption risk more than double that of older patients, while those with high cytotoxic T cell levels saw their eruption risk increase by 3.5-fold, study data showed. Surprisingly, patients with low glutathione levels, slow drug acetylation, and/or other viral infections had eruption rates similar to those seen in patients without these putative risk factors.
Moreover, preventive corticosteroid therapy had no discernable effect on drug eruption risk (Prospective evaluation of risk factors of cutaneous drug reactions to sulfonamides in patients with AIDS. Journal of the American Academy of Dermatology 2002;47(1):40-46).
"Our results challenge several current concepts regarding drug eruptions by discarding a strong association with glutathione deficiency, slow acetylation, or active viral infections and by showing no preventive effect of corticosteroids," Eliaszewicz and colleagues concluded.
The corresponding author for this report is Eric Caumes, Service des Maladies Infectieuses et Tropicales, Hopital de la Pitie Salpetriere, 47-83, Boulevard de L'hopital, 75013 Paris, France.
Key points reported in this study include:
This article was prepared by AIDS Weekly editors from staff and other reports.
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