The introduction of highly active antiretroviral therapy (HAART) has radically changed the natural history of HIV infection. The significant reduction of plasma viremia accompanied by the arrested immune deterioration following administration of new therapeutic protocols between 1996 and 1999 generated cautious optimism also based on mathematical models claiming the possibility of a complete eradication of HIV infection. Even if the advent of HAART has significantly extended the life-span of patients living with AIDS, the increased mean life-span has given rise to long-term complications of HIV such as metabolic complication, cardiovascular disease and osteoporosis. Degenerative processes involving the bone compartment are common during the course of HIV-1 infection. Osteopenia and osteoporosis represent a challenge in clinical and therapeutic management. It has yet to be determined whether the cause of this dysfunction is linked to HIV-1-mediated direct and/or indirect effects on osteoblasts/osteoclasts cross-talk regulation. This report analyzes the numerous factors able to favor bone derangement (bone loss and osteopenia/osteoporosis) in HIV-1 infected patients.
Key words: HIV, HAART, Bone changes

Articolo presente in – HAART and correlated pathologies n. 0 –

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