Direct and indirect effect of new combination therapies, epidemiological changes in social groups affected by HIV and possible modifications in social perception of people with HIV infection may explain, at least in part, the decreased prevalence of current mood disorders observed in our study as compared to prevalence rates reported in the pre-HAART era.

Three cases of delirium experienced by three young friends after recreational use of "ecstasy" are reported--a syndrome which, to the best of the authors' knowledge, has not been previously observed in MDMA abusers. Special attention is given to the etiological factors and clinical features of the adverse reaction.

Q1Introduction: Transient-localized © lesions of the splenium of the corpus callosum (SCC) have been described in various clinical conditions, some of them being attributed to the withdrawal of psychotropic drugs. The pathophysiology of the lesion likely reflects cytotoxic edema and reversible demyelination.Areas covered: The present article aimed at reviewing cases of transient SCC lesion exclusively related to changes in pharmacological treatment. It also reports the original case of a psychotic patient receiving a complex psychopharmacological therapy who developed a transient SCC lesion investigated by magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), magnetic resonance spectroscopy (MRS), © and pharmacogenetic profiling. Expert opinion: To date, only one review on the subject has been published, analyzing 22 cases of transient SCC lesion arising in epileptic patients on antiepileptic therapy. It hypothesized that the nature of the lesion is a cytotoxic edema and the cases described in the subsequent 14 years seem to support this hypothesis. The authors reported the case of an Italian-Egyptian patient who developed a transient SCC lesion after the rapid withdrawal of Carbamazepine and Lurasidone. The lesion completely disappeared from the MRI performed after 1 month © . Patient's ethnic group and its specific pharmacogenetic profile were considered as possible causes of altered drug metabolism and, likely, of the SCC lesion. Q2 ARTICLE HISTORY

ResumenProposito:El propósito de este estudio era evaluar la prevalencia de trastornos del estado de ánimo actuales en pacientes seropositivos al VIH tratados con terapia farmacológica antirretrovírica combinada que incluía o no inhibidores de la proteasa.Sujetos y métodos:Se evaluó una muestra aleatoria de 90 sujetos que acudieron consecutivamente entre el 1 de febrero y el 31 de julio de 1998 a la unidad ambulatoria del Segundo Departamento de Enfermedades Infecciosas del Hospital “L. Sacco” en Milán por medio de la Entrevista Clínica Estructurada para el DSM-III-R (SCID) y la Escala de Autoevaluación de la Depresión de Zung (ZSDS).Resultados:Se clasificó a un 23,3% de sujetos en el estadio A de la CDC, a un 32,3% en el estadio B y a un 44,4% en el estadio C. Se encontro un diagnostico psiquiátrico del DSM-III-R de trastorno del estado de ánimo actual en 4,4% de la muestra seleccionada (distimia: 2,2%; trastorno adaptativo con estado de ánimo deprimido: 2,2%).Conclusiones:El efecto directo e indirecto de las nuevas terapias de combinación, los cambios epidemiológicos en los grupos sociales afectados por el VIH y las posibles modificaciones en la perceptión social de las personas con infección por VIH pueden explicar, al menos en parte, la disminución de la prevalencia de trastornos del estado de ánimo actuales observada en nuestro estudio comparado con las tasas de prevalencia comunicadas en la época anterior a la terapia antirretrovírica muy activa (TARMA).