Kaleidoscope of autoimmune diseases in HIV infection

AbstractWithin the last 30  years, the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) infection has changed its status from inevitably fatal to chronic disorder with limited impact on life span. However, this breakthrough was mainly the effect of introduction of the aggressive antiviral treatment, which has led to the clinically signifi cant increase in CD4+ cell count, resulting in fewer cases of the acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS) and improved management of opportunistic infections occurring in the course of the disease. The occurrence of a particular autoimmune disease depends on degree of immunosuppression of the HIV- positive patient. In 2002, four stages of autoimmunity were proposed in patients infected by HIV, based on the absolute CD4+ cell count, feature of AIDS as well as on the presence of autoimmune diseases. Spectrum of autoimmune diseases associated with HIV infection seems to be unexpectedly wide, inv olving several organs, such as lungs (sarcoidosis), thyroid gland (Graves’ disease), liver (autoimmune hepatitis), connective tissue (systemic lupus erythematosus, rheumatoid arthritis, polyarteritis nodosa and other types of vasculitis, antiphospholipid syndrome) or hematopoietic system (autoimmu ne cytopenias). This paper contains the state of art on possible coincidences between HIV infection and a differential types of autoimmune diseases, including the potential mechanisms of this phenomenon. As the clinical manifestations of autoimmunization often mimic th...
Source: Rheumatology International - Category: Rheumatology Source Type: research