J Appl Biomed 6:139-145, 2008 | DOI: 10.32725/jab.2008.017

Changes in CD⁴⁺ cell count, lipid profile and liver enzymes in HIV infection and AIDS patients

Palanisamy Pasupathi^1,*, Govindaswamy Bakthavathsalam¹, Ganesan Saravanan^1,2, Ayyaswamy Devaraj¹

¹ Institute of Laboratory Medicine, K.G. Hospital and Post Graduate Medical Institute, Coimbatore, Tamil Nadu, India

² Department of Biochemistry & Biotechnology, Faculty of Science, Annamalai University, Annamalainagar, Tamil Nadu, India

This study was designed to find the correlation between changes in CD⁴⁺ cell count, lipid profile and liver marker enzymes in HIV-infected and AIDS patients. The study population consisted of 150 subjects, age and sex-matched and divided into three groups [control subjects (n=50), HIV infected (n=50) and AIDS patients (n=50)]. We observed a significant reduction in CD⁴⁺ cell count in HIV/AIDS patients when compared to control subjects. Serum levels of total cholesterol, high-density lipoprotein cholesterol (HDL-C) and low-density lipoprotein cholesterol (LDL-C) were found to be decreased significantly in HIV/AIDS patients when compared with normal counterparts. On the other hand, the levels of triglyceride (TG) and very low-density lipoprotein cholesterol (VLDL-C) were markedly elevated in HIV/AIDS patients compared to normal subjects. The activities of serum aspartate aminotransferase (AST), alanine aminotransferase (ALT) and alkaline phosphatase (ALP) observed in HIV/AIDS patients were significantly higher than in the control group. Further, the above mentioned haematological and biochemical variables were found to be affected more significantly in AIDS patients when compared with HIV infected subjects. Hence, it may be concluded that CD⁴⁺ cell count, lipid profile and liver enzymes can be a good index of disease progression in HIV infection and AIDS patients.

Keywords: HIV; AIDS; CD⁴⁺ cell count; lipids; liver enzymes

Received: April 30, 2008; Revised: June 2, 2008; Published: July 31, 2008  Show citation