[Adverse effects of antiretroviral treatments]

The efficacy of antiretroviral drugs has improved the prognosis for infection by human immunodeficiency virus (HIV); it is nonetheless accompanied by toxicity specific to these agents. Adverse effects of these treatments are a major cause of poor compliance as well as of the cessation or change of treatment. Knowledge of these effects allows physicians to choose an individualized and effective treatment for each patient, one that is well tolerated and appropriate to the patient's sometimes complex medical history. Although some of these adverse effects can be life-threatening (drug eruptions with nevirapine and abacavir, pancreatitis with didanosine, or lactic acidosis with nucleoside analogs), most are reversible. Lipodystrophies, sometimes combining morphologic and metabolic disorders, are observed in some patients after several years of treatment and appear to increase cardiovascular risk. They are one of the major disadvantages of combined treatments.