Successful treatment of Castleman's disease with HAART in two HIV-infected patients.

Abstract

Castleman's disease is a heterogeneous group of lymphoproliferative disorders of unknown aetiology. Recently, human herpesvirus type 8 (HHV-8) has been associated with various diseases in individuals with HIV infection, including Kaposi's sarcoma, B cell non Hodgkin's lymphomas, and Castleman's disease. In Castleman's disease it has been hypothesized that HHV-8, encoding a number of various virokines, can be responsible for clinical manifestations of the disease.Previously, two reports have described a clinical recovery from HIV-associated Castleman's disease: by administration of a monoclonal antibody neutralizing human IL-6 in one case, and in another case by treatment with highly antiretroviral therapy and anti-herpesvirus therapy, following splenectomy. We report two cases where HAART alone led to clinical recovery from Castleman's disease. In both the cases reported here, although follow-up biopsy was not performed, it is likely that the inhibition of HHV-8 replication and of virokine release, through the restoration of immunity by HAART, was the basis for the disappearance of the clinical symptoms.

• Authors: M Lanzafame, G Carretta, M Trevenzoli, L Lazzarini, S Vento Ercole Concia
• Journal: The Journal of infection (J Infect) Vol. 40 Issue 1 Pg. 90-1 (Jan 2000) ISSN: 0163-4453 [Print] England
• PMID: 10762119 (Publication Type: Case Reports, Journal Article)

Chemical References

• Anti-HIV Agents
• Reverse Transcriptase Inhibitors

Topics

• Adult
• Anti-HIV Agents (therapeutic use)
• Castleman Disease (drug therapy)
• Drug Therapy, Combination
• HIV Infections (complications, drug therapy)
• Humans
• Male
• Reverse Transcriptase Inhibitors (therapeutic use)
• Treatment Outcome