Tropical Medicine and Infectious Disease (Dec 2018)

Acute Retroviral Syndrome Presenting with Hemolytic Anemia Induced by G6PD Deficiency

  • Tiago Araujo,
  • Vatsala Katiyar,
  • Jose A. Gonzales Zamora

DOI
https://doi.org/10.3390/tropicalmed4010006
Journal volume & issue
Vol. 4, no. 1
p. 6

Abstract

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Glucose-6-phosphate dehydrogenase (G6PD) deficiency is the most common enzyme defect described in humans. Hemolysis in affected patients is usually triggered by circumstances involving free radical damage. While acute HIV infection is known to be a state of overwhelming oxidative stress, virus-induced hemolytic events in G6PD-deficient patients has rarely been reported. Despite an estimated overall prevalence of 6.8%–13% of this disorder in the HIV population, clinically significant hemolysis has been largely attributed to the use of offending medications rather than HIV infection itself. Here, we present a patient whose first episode of G6PD deficiency-associated hemolysis occurred as the main presentation of acute HIV infection.

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