EFFECT OF ZIDOVUDINE ON CEREBROSPINAL-FLUID IN PATIENTS WITH HIV-INFECTION AND ACUTE NEUROLOGICAL DISEASE

Two cases of HIV infection associated with neurological complications are described. The patients had been followed with repeated cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) analyses 1-3 years before the neurological disease and 5 months after zidovudine treatment. CSF mononuclear cell count and the AIDS predictors beta(2)-microglobulin and neopterin decreased in CSF after treatment and were lower or at the level seen 1-3 years before treatment. The results suggest that zidovudine has a suppressive effect on the HIV infection in CNS at least for 5 months, even when low zidovudine doses (500 mg daily) were used.