BACKGROUND In order to appreciate the antiretroviral drugs impact in the HIV positive patients with peripheral neuropathy, a clinical, electrophysiological and neurpathological study of nerve biopsies was performed. METHODS A group of 8 HIV seropositive patients with peripheral neuropathy was compared with an other group of 10 HIV seropositive patients treated with multiple antiretroviral drugs. Electrophysiological examination with motor nerve conduction velocity (MNCV) mesure of the median and the sciatic popliteal nerve was followed by nerve biopsy. Nerve fragments carried out the neuropathological technics for morphological examination. RESULTS Eighteen seropositive HIV patients (16 HIV-1 and 2 HIV-2) were included in this study. Six patients among them had motor and sensitive neuropathy of the four limbs and 2 patients had sensitive neuropathy associated with pyramidal signs. In fine, 1 patient had sensitive neuropathy with distal amyotrophy of the four limbs. Slow MNCV was observed in all the patients and more severe in the lower limbs. Nerve were unexciting in the lower limbs in 2 patients. Nerve biopsy showed severe axonal loss in all the patients treated but one. They associated axonal lesion in 5 cases and myelinated lesions in 2 cases. Two patients non treated had normal nerve biopsy. Axonal loss was mild in 2 cases and very severe in one case associated with non inflammatory demyelinated lesions. CONCLUSIONS we observed more severe and more frequent nerve lesions in treated patients than in no treated patients, as at the clinical, electrophysiological and neuropathological examination. Antiretroviral drugs cause more frequently pain motor and sensitive neuropathies at usual posologies. The occurence of recrudescence of pain peripheral neuropathy under antiretroviral treatment allows to reconsider drugs posologies.