A STUDY ON CLINICAL PROFILE OF HIV AND AIDS PATIENTS AND FIND ITS CORRELATION WITH CD4+ AND CD8+ T LYMPHOCYTE LEVELS

OBJECTIVE: To Study clinical profile of HIV and AIDS patients and find its correlation with CD4+ and CD8+ T lymphocyte levels. MATERIALS AND METHODS: 104 HIV infected or AIDS cases were enrolled. Demographic and clinical data were recorded. General and systemic examinations with particular attention to presence of opportunistic infections was done. The diagnosis of HIV/AIDS was done bases on the criteria provided by National AIDS Control Organization (NACO). CD4+ count was estimated by Fluorescent Activated Cell Sorter (FACS). Opportunistic infection (OI) was diagnosed based on clinical signs, symptoms supported by laboratory investigation findings. Serum total protein, serum SGPT were estimated using kit method. RESULTS: The data collected was analyzed statistically using SPSS version II. Out of 104 HIV/AIDS cases, most cases were in the age group (30 - 40) years. Tuberculosis was the commonest OI 40(38%) including 72(69%) extra pulmonary tuberculosis 16(15%) followed by oral candidiasis 22 (21%), cyptococcal meningitis 15 (14%) and others. Most patients had CD4+ T lymphocyte count between (100 - 200) cells/mu l and CD8+ T lymphocyte in range (400 - 600) cell/mu l. Hepatitis C and Hepatitis B co infections occurred in 24 (23%) and 11 (11%) of cases respectively. All had CD4 count below 400 cell/mu l. A significant level of correlation was observed between CD4 and serum total protein with Karl Pearson's correlation coefficient r=0.270, at 0.01 level of significance. CONCLUSION: IDU was the commonest route of infection. Tuberculosis including extra pulmonary tuberculosis being the most common OI. Co infections with Hepatitis - C and Hepatitis B occurred in many patients which could be attributed for the rise in SGPT levels. Most of the OIs occurred in patients having CD4 count <100 cells/mu l. Out of 104 cases, 68 cases were under antiretroviral drugs and 14 such cases developed OIS. Hence there is possibility of treatment failure on first line drug treatment and in these cases further study is required.