Institution: University of Yaoundé I

Project Affiliation:

Abstract

BACKGROUND
Tuberculosis is a major public health problem in the world, the number of deaths related to tuberculosis is estimated at 1.6 million people. Its association with HIV forms a deadly combination and is leading cause of morbidity and mortality.
OBJECTIVES
The aim of this study was to determine the prevalence of HIV/Tuberculosis co-infection and the evolution of liver enzymes in patients at the Yaounde Jamot Hospital.
METHODOLOGY
We carried out a cross-sectional study. Blood and sputum samples were collected from 362 peoples living with HIV over a period of six months (September 2017 to March 2018). For the determination of Mycobacterium Tuberculosis, bacteriological analyse was done and confirmed by a Polymerase Chain Reaction (PCR). The essay of liver markers were assayed by a kinetic method (Alanine Transaminase (ALT), Aspartate Transaminase (AST) and Alkaline Phosphatase (ALP)); a first blood sample was taken at recruitment and the second 3 months after the first sample. Data analysis was done using SPSS software 22.1. The statistical tests was performed were by Kruskal-Wallis and Mann Whitney U and all values of P≤0.05 were considered to be statistically significant.

RESULTS
The female sex was predominantly represented 67, 1% (243) compared to the male sex 32, 9% (119) among the 362 patients recruited. We obtained 9.94% (36) of HIV/Tuberculosis co-infection prevalence. A significant elevation of ALT and ALP were observed at the recruitment of patients in HIV/Tuberculosis co-infected patients compared to HIV patients with (P <0.001) and (P=0.0001) respectively. After a period of 3 months, no significant parameter was observed.

CONCLUSION
HIV associated to Tuberculosis negatively impacts the disease progression, which can be confirmed by increase of ALT and ALP. There is a necessity to control the disease progression through these. This co-infections remain a real public health problem due to the increase in co-morbidity among HIV patients, hence the need for careful and constant monitoring of this co-infection so as to ensure better management.

NEXT STEPS
Establish the link between co-infection and the rate of drug resistance.

Key words: co-infections, HIV, Tuberculosis, liver markers

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