HIV-associated sensory neuropathy: current progress and future challenges

Currently, no US Food and Drug Administration-approved treatments exist to manage HIV-associated sensory neuropathy (HIV-SN) and management is largely confined to adjusting antiretroviral therapy (ART) doses and medications. Thus, this urgent health crisis requires strong research commitment to identify a cure or palliative treatment. This review explores the current state-of-the-art related to HIV-SN. It first explores recent developments in the understanding of HIV-SN, emphasizing the importance of developments in the HIV-SN mouse model and non-myelination intra epidermal never fiber denervation. Next, the neurotoxic side effects of ART are summarized. Finally, we explore the interactions and synergy between HIV-SN and ART in the pathogenesis of peripheral neuropathy. While the overall mortality related to HIV has decreased significantly in recent decades, further elucidation of the exact mechanisms of HIV-SN is needed to better treat patients living with HIV as a chronic condition.