Optic Nerve Histopathology in AIDS: A Rabbit Model with Tumor Necrosis Factor

Ophthalmologic problems are common in patients with acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS). Neurological symptoms are also frequently seen in AIDS.2 About half of all AIDS patients have had neurological problems and about 90% demonstrate neurological lesions at autopsy. AIDS encephalopathy (or AIDS dementia complex) is often associated with a dissemination of plaques of axonal degeneration and astrocytic gliosis. We have also described an optic neuropathy with similar histopathologic features seen in human immunodeficient virus (HIV)+ patient.