Calcium and Total Bilirubin Levels in Patients Co-Infected with HIV and Hepatitis C Viruses in Lautech Teaching Hospital, Osogbo, South West Nigeria

Aim: One third of HIV patients are co- infected with HCV. As HIV patients live longer this co-infection and its complications such as liver cirrhosis, hepatic carcinoma, metabolic syndrome are emerging as major manifestations of the disease that need to be dealt with promptly in order to avoid a reduction of the positive effects of highly active antiretroviral therapy (HAART) on HIV/AIDS introduced in 1996. Another system that could be affected by co-infection is the skeletal system. It has been shown that HIV itself and in combination with HCV could lead to a reduction in bone mineral density (BMD) predisposing to pathological fractures. It is thus important to determine the state of calcium metabolism among our HIV/HCV patients in order to forestall negative impacts on our patients who have been stable on HAART for several years. The majority of our patients are on combination therapy of Zidovudine, Lamivudine and Nevirapine. The hepatic complications of HIV/HCV co-infection have been well established. In our previous studies signs of hepatic inflammation have been demonstrated by raised aspartate transaminase (AST) and alanine transaminase (ALT) levels. However in this study we wish to also demonstrate liver damage through estimation of bilirubin levels.
Methodology: Antibodies to HIV were determines using Unigold and determine. immunochromatographic device was used to detect anti-HCV. Total bilirubin and calcium were analyzed using vitros DT-60 card reader.
Results: The majority of our patients were female. In group I up to %80. There was a statistically significant elevation of total bilirubin levels in HIV/HCV co-infected patients when compared to HIV mono-infected patients. There were statistically significant changes in calcium levels between the groups
Conclusion: Information on HIV/HCV co-infection and its effects on calcium metabolism in this clinical instance appears to be scarce. Intensification of research is required to firmly establish the role of HIV/HCV co-infection on calcium metabolism in our clinical instance.