AIDS. 1999 Jun 18;13(9):1063-9. Unique Identifier : AIDSLINE
BACKGROUND: Visceral leishmaniasis is common in patients with HIV
infection living in endemic areas, but the most effective and safe
treatment remains unknown. OBJECTIVE: To compare the efficacy and safety
of meglumine antimoniate versus amphotericin B in HIV-infected patients
with first episodes of visceral leishmaniasis (VL). DESIGN: An open,
multicentre, prospective and randomized trial. SETTING: Twelve tertiary
hospitals. PATIENTS: Eighty-nine consecutive HIV-infected patients
diagnosed with VL. Patients were randomly assigned to treatment with
either meglumine antimoniate (20 mg pentavalent antimony per kilogram of
body weight per day) or amphotericin B (0.7 mg/kg per day) both for 28
days. Treatment was considered successful if a bone marrow aspirate
performed 1 month after the end of therapy did not detect parasites.
Relapse was defined as the reappearance of parasites after an initial
cure. RESULTS: An initial cure was attained in 29 of 44 patients (65.9%)
randomly assigned to treatment with meglumine antimoniate and 28 of 45
(62.2%) randomly assigned to treatment with amphotericin B. The
incidence of moderate to severe adverse events was similar in both
groups. The patients treated with meglumine antimoniate had higher
incidences of cardiotoxicity (14 versus 0%, P = 0.02) and chemical
pancreatitis (30 versus 0%, P < 0.01). However, in the amphotericin B
group, nephrotoxicity was more frequent (36 versus 5%, P < 0.01). There
was no difference in survival or relapse-free interval according to the
allocated group of therapy. CONCLUSION: Treatment of VL with meglumine
antimoniate or amphotericin B was shown to have similar efficacy and
toxicity rates in Spanish HIV-infected patients. The differences in the
toxicity patterns could be useful in choosing one of these agents as
first-line treatment.
CLINICAL TRIAL JOURNAL ARTICLE MULTICENTER STUDY RANDOMIZED
CONTROLLED TRIAL Adult Amphotericin B/*THERAPEUTIC USE Animal
Antiprotozoal Agents/ADVERSE EFFECTS/*THERAPEUTIC USE AIDS-Related
Opportunistic Infections/*DRUG THERAPY/PARASITOLOGY Comparative Study
Female Human Leishmania/ISOLATION & PURIF Leishmaniasis,
Visceral/*DRUG THERAPY/PARASITOLOGY Male Meglumine/ADVERSE
EFFECTS/*THERAPEUTIC USE Middle Age Organometallic Compounds/ADVERSE
EFFECTS/*THERAPEUTIC USE Prospective Studies Spain Support, Non-U.S.
Gov't Treatment Outcome