The Effect of Co-infection of HIV and Hepatotropic Viruses on Selected Biochemical and Haematological Markers of Patients in Northeastern Nigeria.

Background: As deaths caused by HIV declines with the use of HAART, liver disease associated with co-infection of HIV with hepatotropic viruses has become an increasing cause of morbidity and mortality. Aim: To assess the effect of HIV-mono and co-infections with hepatotropic viruses on haematological and biochemical markers of the patients. Methodology: 109 HIV patients from tertiary health facilities in northeastern Nigeria were initially screened with Immuno chromatographic kit for HIV antibody and confirmed by western blot prospectively and consecutively. However, Hepatitis B virus surface antigen (HBsAg) and Hepatitis C virus (HCV) antibody were detected on the HIV positive patients by ELISA. Blood donors served as control. The study was conducted between January and October 2012. Results: Of the HIV patients 12.8% and 4.6% had HBsAg and HCV antibody respectively. The prevalence rate of Hepatitis B virus (HBV) infection among males was 12.8% while females had 12.9% but lower rates of HCV were obtained in both males (5.1%) and females (3.3%). However, HIV mono-infections had higher mean baseline values for haemogblobin (Hb), CD4 and platelet counts, protein C (PC) and protein S (PS) in comparison with HIV/ HBV/HCV co-infections (P<0.05). In addition, Prothrombin time and partial thromboplastin time were lower in HIV mono- infection in contrast to co-infections (P<0.05). Similarly, the mean values of Serum liver enzymes such as Aspartate transaminase (AST), Alanine transaminase (ALT), Akaline Phosphatase (ALP) and creatinine were lower in HIV mono-infection compared with HIV/HBV or HIV/HCV co-infection (P<0.05). Total white blood cell count (WBC), total cholesterol (TCH), Random blood sugar (RBS) and potassium (K+) were not significantly different (P>0.05) in both groups. Conclusion: Co-infections of HIV and hepatotropic viruses do occur. Haematological and biochemical parameters serve as pointers for early detection of liver disease in HIV patients. The development of novel therapeutic approaches to impede co-infection of HIV and hepatotropic viruses is encouraged.

Tuberculosis: From an incurable scourge to a curable disease - journey over a millennium.

Globally, tuberculosis (TB) still remains a major public health problem. India is a high TB burden country contributing to 26 per cent of global TB burden. During 1944-1980, TB became treatable and short-course chemotherapy emerged as the standard of care. When TB elimination seemed possible in the early 1980s, global human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) infection/acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS) pandemic resulted in a resurgence of TB. Widespread occurrence of multidrug-resistant and extensively drug-resistant TB (M/XDR-TB) is threatening to destabilize TB control globally. Atypical clinical presentation still poses a challenge. Disseminated, miliary and cryptic TB are being increasingly recognized. Availability of newer imaging modalities has allowed more efficient localization of lesions and use of image guided procedures has facilitated definitive diagnosis of extrapulmonary TB. Introduction of liquid culture, rapid drug-susceptibility testing (DST), molecular diagnostic methods has helped in rapid detection, speciation and DST profiling of Mycobacterium tuberculosis isolates. While treatment of TB and HIV-TB co-infection has become simpler, efforts are on to shorten the treatment duration. However, drug toxicities and drug-drug interactions still constitute a significant challenge. Recently, there has been better understanding of anti-TB drug-induced hepatotoxicity and its frequent confounding by viral hepatitis, especially, in resource-constrained settings; and immune reconstitution inflammatory syndrome (IRIS) in HIV-TB. Quest for newer biomarkers for predicting a durable cure, relapse, discovery/repurposing of newer anti-TB drugs, development of newer vaccines continues to achieve the goal of eliminating TB altogether by 2050.

The comparison of the therapeutic impacts on metabolism in hepatitis C virus and human immunodeficiency virus co-infected patients / 中华内分泌代谢杂志

To explore and compare the response of the protease inhibitors or non-nucleoside reverse transcriptase inhibitors-based therapeutic impact on metabolic indices in hepatitis C virus (HCV)/human immunodeficiency virus(HIV) co-infected patients.A randomized,open,and control approach was performed to enroll 273 cases of HCV/HIV co-infected patients on their initial visits and to choose protease inhibitors(PIs group) or non-nucleoside reverse transcriptase inhibitors (NNRTIs group) based therapy treatments for one year.Laboratory results of metabolic indices before and after the treatment were collected.After treatment,the levels of triglyceride in NNRTIs and Pls groups were (1.93 ± 0.99) mmol/L and (1.62 ± 0.93) mmol/L respectively,high density lipoprotein-cholesterol were(1.28 ± 0.55) mmol/L and (1.08 ± 0.53) mmol/L,low density lipoprotein-cholesterol were (2.60 ± 1.44) mmol/L and (2.22 ± 1.16) mmol/L,fasting plasma glucose were (5.92 ± 1.21) mmol/L and (4.79 ± 0.47) mmol/L,serum creatinine were (70.5 ± 14.6) μmol/L and (56.6 ± 8.3) μmol/L,and serum amylase were(66.9 ± 27.5) U/L and(62.7 ± 33.8) U/L respectively.The difference between the two groups was statistically significant(all P＜0.01).There is a therapeutic impact on metabolic indices in patients wtih HCV / HIV co-infection after non-nucleoside reverse transcriptase inhibitors-based regimen.

Coinfección por tuberculosis y virus de la inmunodeficiencia humana: confluencia de dos epidemias / Co-infection due to tuberculosis and human inmunodeficiency virus: confluence of two epidemics

Se revisaron diversas fuentes bibliográficas sobre la epidemiología de la tuberculosis y el virus de la inmunodeficiencia humana y la coinfección de ambas enfermedades en el mundo. Asimismo, fue analizada la relación entre estos procesos morbosos y se tuvo en cuenta la estrategia global de prevención para reducir la carga de las dos epidemias.

Several literature sources on the epidemiology of tuberculosis and the human inmunodeficiency virus and the co-infection of both diseases in the world were reviewed. Also, the relationship between these disease processes was analyzed and the global strategy of prevention to reduce the load of the two epidemics was kept in mind.

Seroprevalence of HBV, HCV and HIV co-infection in selected individuals from state of São Paulo, Brazil

Few studies are available on hepatitis B virus (HBV), hepatitis C virus (HCV) and human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) co-infection in populations living in small and medium-sized Brazilian cities. We evaluated the seroprevalence of these viruses in selected individuals from a clinic of infectology, who were referred to the University Regional Hospital of the West Region of state of São Paulo, Brazil. Among a total of 7,021 individuals seen in the clinic following receipt of preliminary ELISA results or having the suggested clinical signs of viral hepatitis or HIV, 1,228 were systematically screened. Isolated or associated HBsAg, HCV and HIV antibodies were found in 44.9 percent of the subjects. Anti-HIV antibodies were found in 24.7 percent of the patients, 20.3 percent of whom had an HIV monoinfection and 4.4 percent of whom were co-infected with hepatitis viruses (HCV: 4 percent; HBV: 0.4 percent). Anti-HCV antibodies were found in 14 percent of the patients and 5.9 percent had anti-HBsAg antibodies. HCV infection affected males more than females (p < 0.05) and individuals > 50-years old had an increased prevalence of anti-HCV compared to HIV (p = 0.0001) or HBV (p = 0.0063). HCV-RNA was detected in 73.5 percent of the samples with a predominance of genotype 1 (72.5 percent). A significant percentage (44.9 percent) of the selected individuals was positive for antibodies against HBV, HCV and/or HIV; these patients would otherwise have remained undiagnosed.

Simultaneous presence of bovine papillomavirus and bovine leukemia virus in different bovine tissues: in situ hybridization and cytogenetic analysis

Bovine papillomavirus (BPV) DNA sequences were detected in different tissues, in addition to epithelium. Cytogenetic abnormalities were observed in blood lymphocytes. The presence of more than one virus in a single tissue is a difficult aspect to evaluate, especially when the DNA sequences are detected in tissues that are not specifically targeted by the virus. BPV and bovine leukemia virus (BLV) are clastogenic, causing chromosome aberrations in peripheral blood lymphocytes. In the present study, we investigated the simultaneous presence of DNA sequences of both viruses and the possibility of vertical transmission and compared the types of chromosome aberrations related to viral action. BPV 1, 2, and 4 DNA sequences were found in three females of the herd and in their offspring. BLV DNA sequences were not detected in their progeny. A newborn calf that was negative for BLV infection showed specific chromosome rearrangements possibly related to the effect of infection with BPV.