Derangement in Enzymatic and Non-Enzymatic Markers of Liver Function in Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV) Infected Patients in Makurdi, North Central Nigeria

Abstract

Liver disease has emerged as a critical issue in the management of human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) victims. This study was carried out to investigate the derangement in indices of liver function in HIV-infected patients in Makurdi, North Central Nigeria. One hundred and fifty males and females adults within the age range of 21- 50 years were enrolled for this study. One hundred of these participants were confirmed HIV positive, out of which fifty were on various antiretroviral drugs including the nucleoside / nucleotide reverse transcriptase inhibitors and the non-nucleoside transcriptase inhibitors classes of antiretroviral drugs. The remaining fifty persons who were HIV- negative served as the control group. Blood samples from the studied persons were analysed for alanine aminotransferase, aspartate aminotransferase, alkaline phosphatase, total protein, albumin, total bilirubin and conjugated bilirubin using automated clinical chemistry analyser, Hitachi 902 (Roche Diagnostic GMBH, Germany). The HIV- patients with or without antiretroviral drugs had their serum levels of alanine aminotransferase, aspartate aminotransferase and alkaline phosphatase significantly raised (p< 0.05) compared with the control subjects. A significant rise (p< 0.05) was observed in serum level of total protein in the HIV patients who were yet to commence antiretroviral drugs when compared to the control subjects. However, the albumin levels of the HIV patients on the antiretroviral drugs and those who were yet to commence the antiretroviral drugs decreased significantly (p< 0.05) when compared with that of the control. The total bilirubin level of the HIV patients on antiretroviral drugs showed significant increase (p< 0.05) compared with the control subjects and the HIV patients who were not on antiretroviral drugs. This study reveals that both HIV infection itself and the antiretroviral drugs cause hepatic malfunction