The effects of antiretroviral treatment on liver function enzymes among HIV-infected out patients attending the Central Hospital of Yaounde, Cameroon

Abstract

The emergence of liver diseases as one of the major causes of death in people infected with HIV has paralleled the introduction of more effective antiretroviral therapies. This study was carried out with the aim of determining the effects of antiretroviral treatment on liver enzymes (SGOT and SGPT) in patients placed on antiretroviral therapy. A prospective cross-sectional 3 years study was carried out among patients confirmed to be HIV positive and who were to be placed on antiretroviral drugs at the HIV/AIDS out patient clinic of the Yaoundé Central Hospital,. Cameroon. Levels of transaminases of patients were measured in four phases using the International Federation of Clinical Chemistry (IFCC) protocol. Of the 150 patients who participated in the study, 54.0 %(81/150) presented with transaminitis at the final phase of the study with respect to aspartate aminotransferase (AST), 77.78% (63/81) of whose AST levels only increased after initiation of highly active antiretroviral therapy (HAART). 22.67% (34/150) presented with transaminitis with respect to alanine aminotransferase (ALT). At the final phase, 70.58% of whose ALT levels only increased after HAART initiation. Increase in blood transaminase levels was statistically independent on age group and the drug combinations. Increase in AST levels was associated with an increase in ALT levels upon treatment (r = 0.58). There was a significant positive linear relationship between duration of treatment and concentration of transaminases over the years (r= 0.9). We therefore concluded that highly active antiretroviral therapy (HAART) is associated with low level hepatotoxicity at therapy initiation, regardless of drug class or combination.

Hepatotoxicity and Associated Risk Factors in Hiv-Infected Patients Receiving Antiretroviral Therapy at Felege Hiwot Referral Hospital, Bahirdar, Ethiopia

“…This finding is comparable with findings of similar studies conducted elsewhere by Mankhatithan et al (2), Crumciaflone et al (17) where the rate of grade 1–4 toxicity were 31.4% and 27% respectively. However, our finding differs from studies carried out in other countries such as South Africa (18), Cameron (19) and France (20) where elevation rate of 23 %, 22.6 % and 20.9 % were reported respectively. The difference could be due to the higher prevalence of hepatitis B and C co-infections in our patients compared to those of the other studies.…”

Assessment of the effect of antiretroviral therapy on renal and liver functions among HIV-infected patients: a retrospective study

“…The variation in prevalence in the stated country might be due to the presence of coinfection by hepatitis virus which has the capability of increasing hepatotoxicity. Grade 2 hepatotoxicity accounts for the majority of the hepatotoxicity grades in this study (63%), which is similar to the results of the study conducted in Atlanta, Georgia, that had a high prevalence rate for Grade 2 hepatotoxicity among the four grades of toxicities,33 while it differs from the findings of two studies conducted in Cameroon 22,34…”

Multiple Micronutrient Supplementation Effect on Vital Metabolic parameters of Stable HIV Patients on Long term Highly Active Antiretroviral Therapy; A Randomized Crossover Trial

“…More specifically with respect to some of the metabolic parameters, Riddler et al (2003) noted that HIV infection before treatment resulted in substantial decreases in serum cholesterol levels and upon HAART initiation was associated with increases in total cholesterol levels. Lucien et al (2010) also reported that increases in SGOT levels were associated with SGPT levels upon treatment and treatment duration and furthermore, Alo et al (2012) reported that high levels of serum creatinine and similarly high levels of serum urea were associated with the use of antiretroviral therapy.…”

“…A Swiss Cohort study observed that while the incidences of AIDS defining events are reducing, the non AIDS defining events are increasing with aging and as a consequence, the non AIDS related diseases are now becoming major causes of health concern in HIV patients on long term HAART with associated morbidity and mortality [Hasse et al, 2011;The Antiretroviral Therapy Cohort Collaboration (ART-CC writing committee);2010]. This particularly appears to be constituting a significant problem in sub Saharan Africa and therefore requires that monitoring, prevention and treatment should be a critical component of care in resource limited regions (Wester et al, 2011).…”