Leucocyte Profiles of Asymptomatic and Symptomatic HIV-1 Subjects in Irrua, EDO State, Nigeria
Abstract
HIV is pandemic and remains a public health concern for many decades. This infection is associated with life threatening opportunistic infections and malignancies. The aim of this study is to look at the leucocyte profiles of HIV-1 positive subjects in Irrua, Edo state, Nigeria. A total of three hundred and forty four (344) HIV-1 subjects aged 17-60 years and of both sexes were recruited into the study. The HIV-1 subjects were divided into asymptomatic and symptomatic subjects. One hundred and fifty (150) apparently healthy HIV-1 negative subjects served as control. The white blood cells total (WBC total) count and differential leucocyte count (DLC) were determined using an automated blood analyzer (Sysmex KX-2IN). Results obtained revealed that the mean WBC total count (x103/µL) of the asymptomatic HIV-1 subjects (5.04 ± 1.14) and that of the control subjects (5.09 ± 1.24) did not show any significant difference (P>0.05). In contrast, the mean WBC total count of symptomatic HIV-1 subjects (4.14 ± 5.06) was significantly decreased (P<0.05) in comparison to that of control. However, age and sex did not affect the WBC total counts of the subjects studied. With respect to DLC, the mean neutrophil % of asymptomatic HIV-1 subjects (43.53 ± 8.84) was not statistically significant (P>0.05) in comparison to control (43.91 ± 5.91) .Whereas, symptomatic HIV-1 subjects (49.25±5.86) revealed a significantly higher (P<0.05) difference in relation to control (43.91 ± 6.25) and asymptomatic HIV-1 subjects. The mean lymphocyte count % of asymptomatic HIV-1 subjects (42.19 ± 6.25) and that of symptomatic HIV-1 subjects (43.32 ± 6.92) were significantly lower (P<0.05) compared to control (47.11 ± 8.33). Age and sex also did not affect the DLC of the study subjects. In conclusion, it has been revealed that the leucocyte profile of symptomatic HIV-1 subjects were significantly affected compared to asymptomatic and control subjects. It re-emphasizes the prognostic role of leucocyte counts (especially in low resource areas) in the diagnosis of symptomatic HIV-1 subjects in the study area.