Glial Cells Involvement in Pathogenesis of Human Immunodeficiency Virus-Associated Sensory Neuropathy (HIV-SN) Literature Review

Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV) infection has become an epidemic all around the world especially in developing countries including Indonesia. AIDS has so many comorbidities, and complications, one of them is HIV associated sensory neuropathy (HIV-SN). Distal sensory polyneuropathy (DSP) and toxic antiretroviral neuropathy (ATN) are the most common HIV-SN, disorders that characterized by peripheral nerve damage. These disorders have the same feature which is “dying back”, a mechanism in which the long axon in the distal region degenerates. This mechanism is worsened by macrophages infiltration and loss of unmyelinated fibers in peripheral nerve and dorsal root ganglion (DRG). In recent studies, the pathogenesis of HIV-SN showed the involvement of glial cells (microglia and astrocyte). In this review, we will focus on the involvement of glial cells in the pathogenesis of HIV-SN.