Visceral leishmaniasis in patients with AIDS: report of three cases treated with pentavalent antimony and interferon-gamma.

Abstract

The optimal therapy for visceral leishmaniasis in patients with AIDS is unknown. We describe herein three patients with advanced AIDS and disseminated leishmaniasis who were treated with meglumine antimoniate plus interferon-gamma. The conditions of the three patients rapidly improved, and the therapeutic combination drastically reduced the parasite burden; after administration of antiprotozoal therapy for 4 weeks, cultures of bone marrow were negative for two of the three patients. Interferon-gamma was well tolerated. Because the patients died of other AIDS-related diseases in the months following therapy, the efficacy of the combination of meglumine antimoniate and interferon-gamma for preventing relapses remains unknown.