Antiretroviral therapy for treatment-naïve chronic HIV-1 infection with an axonal variant of Guillain-Barré syndrome positive for anti-ganglioside antibody: a case report

Abstract

Guillain-Barré syndrome sometimes manifests as immune reconstitution inflammatory syndrome. We report a treatment-naïve male with chronic HIV-1 infection who presented with an axonal variant of Guillain-Barré syndrome. Antiretroviral therapy commenced one month later and no rapid improvement or deterioration of tetraparesis was noted. This is the first report that describes the detection and serial measurements of anti-ganglioside antibody in a patient with HIV infection. This case suggests a limited role for T-cell immunity in the production of anti-ganglioside antibody and the pathogenesis of axonal variants, since the antiretroviral therapy-induced improvement in T-cell immunity neither re-elevated anti-ganglioside antibody titer nor worsened tetraparesis.