METHODS FOR MONITORING MITOCHONDRIAL TOXICITY OFNUCLEOSIDE-ANALOGUE REVERSE-TRANSCRIPTASE INHIBITORSIN HIV PATIENTS DURING ANTIRETROVIRAL THERAPY

Tilişcan C. ¹, Aramă Victoria ^1,2, Mihăilescu Raluca ², Streinu-Cercel A. ^1,2, Ion Daniela ¹, Aramă Ş. S. ^1
1 University of Medicine and Pharmacy “Carol Davila”, Bucharest, Romania
² „Prof. Dr. Matei Balş” National Institute of Infectious Diseases, Bucharest, Romania

Abstract

Various side effects have been associated to HIV antiretroviral therapy (ART) containing nucleoside
reverse transcriptase inhibitors (NRTIs) as a result of mitochondrial toxicity. Mitochondrial DNA
(mtDNA) depletion has important clinical consequences: lipodystrophy, hepatic toxicity, lactic acidosis, myopathy and polyneuropathy. Several methods have been developed in recent years in order to prevent the clinical and biological side effects during NRTIs treatment. These methods aim to predict the metabolic risk using non invasive tools. The present study aims to evaluate the current laboratory methods for mitochondrial toxicity and to assess their utility for monitoring ART toxicity.