Stavudine (d4T), a thymidine analogue and nucleoside analogue reverse transcriptase inhibitor (NRTI), is often used in combination with other HIV drugs. A known side effect of the drug is a peripheral neuropathy (numbness, tingling or pain in the hands or feet).3 Stavudine is also associated with a spectrum of lactic acid abnormalities, from asymptomatic, mild hyperlactatemia to a potentially fatal lactic acidosis syndrome (LAS). NRTI-related lactic acidosis can be associated with myopathy (causing muscle wasting, myalgia, fatigue, weakness and elevated creatinine kinase levels), lipoatrophy, hepatic steatosis, liver dysfunction and possible fulminant liver failure, and pancreatitis.4–6 The toxic effects appear to result from mitochondria damage as a result of DNA polymerase γ inhibition, but it is unknown whether the new GBS-like symptoms are mediated similarly.
Hyperlactatemia (and LAS) is often associated with symptoms of generalized fatigue, nausea, vomiting, sudden weight loss, abdominal pain and distension. Tachypnea and dyspnea are not reliable early signs of LAS and may signal a preterminal state. Similarly, although serum transaminase levels can eventually rise in patients with LAS, they are often normal at presentation.4 An elevated plasma lactate level is diagnostic of hyperlactatemia (mild 2–5 mmol/L, severe > 5 mmol/L),7 and patients with LAS often have an additional anion gap metabolic acidosis.