HIV and direct damage of organs: disease spectrum before and during the highly active antiretroviral therapy era.

Evidence derived from numerous studies supports a primary role for HIV in the development of direct damage of different organs eventually being responsible for the appearance of dementia, cardiomyopathy, nephropathy and hematologic abnormalities. As a result of the introduction of effective antiretroviral combination therapies a dramatic decrease of AIDS-associated opportunistic infections and malignancies was observed; however, the role of HAART on HIV organ damage is less well appreciated. In this review we discuss the most common HIV-associated diseases, their pathogenesis as well as the possible changing scenery in the HAART era.