An Observational Study on Metabolic Derangements in People Living with HIV

Background: HIV infection is a global pandemic. The adult HIV prevalence in India is 0.22%. Successful therapy is transforming HIV into a chronic medical condition, and there are many metabolic complications. This study aimed to evaluate the metabolic abnormalities in people living with HIV (PLHIV) who were on antiretroviral therapy (ART) for at least 2 years and compare it with ART-naïve patients as well as the effect of protease inhibitor-based (PI-based) and non-protease inhibitor-based (non-PI-based) ART was assessed. Methodology: Adult HIV-positive patients both ART-naïve and on ART for more than 2 years were included. Detailed history and clinical examination, including blood pressure and anthropometric measurements were done. This was followed by investigations like lipid profile including total cholesterol, triglyceride, high-density lipoprotein-cholesterol (HDL-C), low-density lipoprotein-cholesterol (LDL-C), fasting plasma glucose, and hemoglobin A1c (HbA1C) estimation. Standard statistical tools were utilized to assess derangements and association to therapy. Results: The study was conducted for 1.5 years in a tertiary care hospital. A total of 70% of the study population was male with mean age of participants being 43.2 years, 40% were ART-naïve, 37% received non-PI-based ART, and 23% PI-based ART. The mean total cholesterol level and mean triglyceride value were significantly higher in the PI-based ART group than in the therapy-naïve group. The ART-naïve group was seen to have more subjects with abnormally low HDL-C values. The PI-based ART study subjects were found to have a greater number of cases of glucose intolerance in relation to the rest of the two groups significantly (p-value <0.001). The LDL-C systolic blood pressure (SBP), diastolic blood pressure (DBP), body mass index (BMI), and waist circumference had no association with the different ART regimens or with the HIV infection itself. CD4 T cell count at diagnosis in the three study groups was compared with all the variables of metabolic syndrome and no association was found. Conclusion: Total cholesterol, triglycerides, and glucose levels are the main parameters found to be affected in PLHIV on therapy.

A vexing case of non-healing ulcers with interstitial lung disease

Clinically amyopathic dermatomyositis is a subset of dermatomyositis that does not have any clinical evidence of muscle inflammation. Hence, it frequently poses a diagnostic challenge to the clinician. Here, we present a middle-aged farmer who presented only with multiple non-healing ulcers and was eventually found to be having early interstitial lung disease. He was finally diagnosed with anti-melanoma differentiation-associated gene 5 dermatomyositis and was started on aggressive immunosuppressants.

Myositis And Immune Reconstitution Inflammatory Syndrome In An Immuno Compromised Patient: A Therapeutic Conundrum

Microsporidia are ubiquitous fungi that may infect animals, fish, insects as well as humans. Human infection is uncommon and only seen in the immunocompromised individual. Here, we report the case of a 40-year-old known AIDS patient presented with severe myalgia and inability to walk. Investigations revealed microsporidial myositis. Her treatment was further complicated by the development of acute inflammatory demyelinating polyneuropathy (AIDP) 2 weeks later. However, treating human immunodeficiency virus, microsporidiosis, and AIDP as a consequence of immune reconstitution inflammatory syndrome concomitantly led to clinical improvement

Study of bone marrow changes in antiretroviral naive human immunodeficiency virus-infected anemic patients.

Background: Bone marrow changes are common throughout the course of HIV infection. There is scanty data addressing this issue in Indian subcontinent. The present study was aimed at characterizing the bone marrow changes in the antiretroviral naive HIV-infected Indian patients with anemia. Materials and Methods: This was a nonrandomized cross-sectional observational study undertaken over a period of 2 years. Forty-six randomly selected patients with documented anemia served as the study population. None of them was on any antiretroviral therapy or suffering from any known causes of anemia. All the patients underwent thorough evaluation, including bone marrow examination. Results: Majority of the patients had normocytic-normochromic anemia (63%), in tune with the available data. In most of the cases bone marrow was hypercellular (63.04%), although in a significant proportion it was found to be hypocellular (19.57%). Erythropoiesis was suppressed in 36.96% of patients. Dysplastic changes involving isolated cell lines ranged from 13.04% to 45.65%, dysmegakaryopoiesis being the most common, followed by dyserythropoiesis. Marrow plasmacytosis was detected in 23.91% of patients. No statistically significant correlation was detected in between immunological status (CD4 count) and marrow cellularity, myelodysplastic changes or marrow plasmacytosis. In a fair number of cases bone marrow examination aided in the diagnosis of opportunistic infections. Conclusions: Bone marrow changes are common in Indian HIV-infected anemic population, particularly in the advanced stages of the disease. HIV infection should be considered in the differential diagnosis of patients with secondary myelodysplasia or unexplained bone marrow changes.