HIV-associated neuropathy pain eased by Gabapentin. (Dose-Defendant Response).

SAN DIEGO -- Gabapentin relieves the pain of HIV-associated neuropathy in a dose-dependent fashion, Dr. Michael C. Rowbotham reported at the 10th World Congress on Pain.

Gabapentin treatment also improved sleep, mood, and some quality of life measures, but there was no difference in those measures between patients taking either 900 or 3,600 mg/day he said during a poster session.

In a double-blind, parallel-group trial, 58 subjects were randomized to receive either the high or the low dose of gabapentin. They started by taking either 1,200 or 300 mg/day respectively, and were titrated up to the target doses over 3 weeks. The patients then stayed at the target dose for 1 week.

At baseline, patients in the high-dose group had a mean pain score of 6.5 on a scale of 0 to 10. The patients in the low-dose group had a mean starting pain score of 6.1. Both groups experienced a progressive reduction in pain throughout the study's duration.

By the study's fourth and final week, the mean scores had dropped to 3.5 in the high-dose group and 4 in the low-dose group, for a 46% decline in pain among those receiving the high dose and a 30% decline in those receiving the low dose. Pain scores were still declining when the study ended, said Dr. Rowbotham, professor of clinical neurology ...