["Buffalo neck": an unintended secondary effect of treatment with anti-HIV protease inhibitors].
Lipodystrophy and other fat distribution disorders have been reported in patients receiving protease inhibitor therapy for HIV infection. A 50-year-old HIV-positive patient was given protease inhibitor therapy (indinavir) for 6 months when he developed a lipomatous formation in the retrocervical area. Abdominal fat also increased in volume and the subcutaneous fat on the lower limbs decreased. We describe the main clinical features of these fat distribution disorders and discuss the pathogenic hypothesis of an interaction between antiprotease activity and hepatic lipoprotein receptor binding.