HIV, visceral leishmaniasis and Parkinsonism combined with diabetes mellitus and hyperuricaemia: A case report

Changing trends in the epidemiology, clinical presentation, and diagnosis of Leishmania-HIV co-infection in India

Following the HIV epidemic, several countries have reported co-infections of Leishmania with HIV. Co-infection with these two pathogens results in rapid disease progression, more severe disease, and a poor response to treatment. A systematic review of the literature from India is presented herein. Since the first case of visceral leishmaniasis (VL) and HIV was published from India in 1999, a number of cases of HIV-Leishmania co-infection have been reported, but the proportion has been low (0.029-0.4%), as also reported in other countries where these two diseases are co-endemic. More than 89 cases of VL-HIV and 10 cases of cutaneous leishmaniasis (CL)-HIV have been published since 1999. Of these latter 10 cases, five had simple CL and five cases manifested with diffuse cutaneous leishmaniasis (DCL). In addition, one case of post-kala-azar mucocutaneous leishmaniasis in a patient with full-blown AIDS has also been reported. In two cases, it could not be ascertained whether they were cases of DCL or post-kala-azar dermal leishmaniasis from the description. Although the first case of VL-HIV co-infection was reported from the sub-Himalayan state of Uttarakhand, most cases have been reported from the VL endemic state of Bihar. HIV-Leishmania is not alarmingly high in India. Most cases were found to have occurred during 1997-2007. After that, the number of new cases decreased. This is most probably due to the low prevalence of HIV in VL and CL endemic regions and to the free supply of highly active antiretroviral therapy for HIV-infected patients.

Diabetes and HIV: current understanding and future perspectives

Diabetes mellitus is a chronic disease with a higher risk of associated infections. HIV infection severely affects diabetic patients and acts as a significant health concern. Highly active antiretroviral therapy (HAART) has changed HIV from an acute infection to a chronic infection with associated significant metabolic abnormalities such as insulin resistance, impaired glucose tolerance, metabolic syndrome, diabetes, dyslipidemia, obesity, and lipodystrophy. These metabolic disturbances add complexity to the standards of care in HIV infection and further increase the risk for cardiovascular disease and renal complications. The co-association of diabetes and HIV needs to be managed appropriately to prevent mortality and morbidity and improve patient outcome. The current understanding of diabetes and other metabolic abnormalities along with management strategies in HIV infected patients are summarized in this article. The review also focuses on recent challenges in the diagnosis and management of co-existent diabetes and HIV infection.