Study of Lipid Profile in Newly Diagnosed Hiv Positive Patients in Correlation With Cd4+count

Abstract

Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV) is the causative agent for Acquired Immuno Deficiency Syndrome (AIDS). AIDS is a fatal illness which burns down the body's immune system making the victim vulnerable to multiple life threatening opportunistic infections, neurological disorders or unusual malignancies. A variety of endocrinologic, metabolic and nutritional disturbances are common during the course of HIV infection. Most HIV infected patients develop multiple metabolic abnormalities including insulin resistance, lipodystrophy and dyslipidaemia. An observation on the nature of dyslipidaemia in HIV positive patients with reference to correlation if any that exists between CD4+ levels and lipid profile in these patients was performed. Results revealed that the total cholesterol, HDL and LDL decreased while triglycerides and VLDL were found to increase as CD4+ levels depleted. It can be concluded that changes in lipid profile can be a good index of disease progression in HIV infection.