[Gastrointestinal manifestations of AIDS. 1: Basic considerations and viral infections]

Fifty to eighty per cent of patients with AIDS-related complex or AIDS have gastrointestinal symptoms, the most common being dysphagia, diarrhea, or perianal lesions. The symptomatology varies from a mild "gay bowel syndrome" to a severe "diarrhea wasting syndrome". In patients with lymphadenopathy syndrome and AIDS the mucosal CD4/CD8 ratio is decreased, and the IgA-producing plasma cells of the mucosa are diminished in number as compared with HIV-negative controls. AIDS enteropathy, the etiology of which remains unclear, seems to be associated with direct infection of the intestinal mucosal cells with HIV. Clinical and therapeutic aspects of some opportunistic infections, such as Candida albicans, cytomegalovirus, and Herpes simplex virus-infection are discussed in this part.