HAART: a risk factor for development of porphyria cutanea tarda?

• Main Authors: Fred Bernardes Filho, Maria Victória Pinto Quaresma Santos, Felipe Nazareth de Matos Pinto de Carvalho, Carlos Gustavo Carneiro de Castro, Elisabete Dobao, Marcelo Rosandiski Lyra, Vinícius de Menezes, José Augusto da Costa Nery
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Published: Sociedade Brasileira de Medicina Tropical (SBMT) 2012-12-01
• Series: Revista da Sociedade Brasileira de Medicina Tropical
• Subjects: Porfiria cutanea tarda; HAART; HIV
• Online Access: http://www.scielo.br/scielo.php?script=sci_arttext&pid=S0037-86822012000600022&lng=en&tlng=en
• ISSN: 1678-9849

Porphyria cutanea tarda (PCT) is caused by inherited or acquired partial deficiency of the uroporphyrinogen-decarboxylase (Uro-D) enzyme activity. It is the most common form of porphyria. The main triggering factors to the development of porphyria cutanea tarda are alcohol, hepatitis C virus and human immunodeficiency virus. There are several reports of PCT associated with drugs, among them, antiretroviral therapy. We describe three HIV-positive patients, which showed photosensitivity as well as the emergence of tense blisters on sun-exposed areas during the use of highly active antiretroviral therapy (HAART) and discuss the possibility of PCT after the use of these drugs by those patients.