Browsing by Author "Taye, Solomon"

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    Impact of Hepatitis C (HCV) Co-infection on HIV patients before and after HAART: An Immuno-haematological and Clinical Chemistry observation
    (Addis Ababa University, 2006) Taye, Solomon; Lakew, Mekuria (PhD)
    Hepatitis C virus (HCV) is an enveloped single stranded RNA virus belonging to the genus Hepacivirus within the family Flaviviridiae. It causes an acute or chronic necroinflamatory disease of liver. Due to shared risk factors of transmission, co-infection with HIV is common. The aim of this study was to assess the impact of HCV co-infection on immunohaematological and clinical chemistry parameters in HIV patients before and after HAART. 387 HIV infected patients at Yekatit-12 and Zenbaba General Hospitals were screened for HCV infection and 25 of them were found HCV/HIV co-infected. From those 25 co-infected patients, 9 of them were pre-ART and the rest 16 were under HAART patients. All those 25 HCV/HIV co-infected patients were observed for 4 years for their annual and quarterly changes in immunohaematological and clinical chemistry parameters. For this study, leftover blood samples collected for immunohaematological and clinical chemistry tests were used. Flavicheck-HCV two-site sandwich, 4th generation EIA was used for the detection of total antibodies specific to HCV in serum or plasma. CD4+ and CD8+ T-cells were counted using FACS counter (Becton Dickinson), haematological tests were done using Celldyn-1800 haemoanalyzer and liver enzymes were measured using Humastar80 chemistry analyzer. From the result, HCV/HIV coinfection prevalence was 6.5% (7.3% for males and 5.5% for females) and from the 25 coinfected, more males were co-infected than females (60% Vs 40%). The percentage increments in CD4+ and CD8+ T-cells of co-infected patients were lower than HIV mono-infected patients (131% Vs 432%) and (14% Vs 31%) respectively. It is highly associated with increased liver enzymes in both pre-ART and under HAART co-infected patients. In conclusion, if confirmed in large studies, it is advisable for HIV patients to screen HCV before initiation of HAART in order to minimize HAART associated liver damage and for better management of HIV in HIV/HCV coinfected individuals. Key words/phrases: Immunohaematological, Pre-ART, HCV/HIV co-infection, HAART, CD4+, CD8+, GOT, GPT, ALP