A study recently conducted by the American Society of Nephrology (ASN) shows that acute kidney injury among patients who have HIV infections is associated to tenofovir disoproxil fumarate (TDF).
TDF is a popular antiretroviral therapy that is used among patients who have HIV infections.
Acute kidney injury is preventable but expensive. It is connected to nephrotoxic medications, lie anti-inflammatories and imaging dyes.
Due to TDF and the resulting acute kidney injury, the patients had a high rate of morbidity in the latest study. Over half of the patients taking TDF involved in the study have not recovered their baseline kidney function, as of a follow-up. As a result of TDF, approximately one-third of the patients will need dialysis.
“Since Tenofovir is a first-line therapy for HIV, infectious disease specialists and clinicians should be aware of the risk of nephrotoxicity related to its use, especially in the context of other drugs and factors that could increase AKI,” Teg Marcos Veiga, lead researcher of the study, said.
The study was featured as a presentation at the ASN Kidney Week 2015, which was held In San Diego, California, through Sunday. The study is titled “Tenofovir Nephrotoxicity is an Important Cause of Acute Kidney Injury in HIV Infected Inpatients.”
