The Typical Plasma Fat Profile and its Dynamics with CD4+ count and Viral load in Zambian Adults with HIV/AIDS

Objective: To establish the characteristic plasma fat profile and its dynamics in association with the absolute CD4+ count and viral load presenting in adult HIV/AIDS patients attending antiretroviral therapy clinic Design and Methods: A longitudinal and quantitative study involving 174 adult HIV/AIDS patients recruited over a period of 18 months at a University Teaching Hospital in Ndola, Zambia. Participants were subjected to clinical assessments with anthropometry, CD4+ count, viral load, and plasma fat measurements at baseline and repeated on a follow-up visit. The Wilcoxon rank-sum test for continuous variables and the Chi-square test for categorical variables were applied to compare the study population by gender. The graphic outputs were generated through the application of the graphics menu in stata. Results: The lipid profiles were generally within normal for the laboratory reference ranges for both the male and female gender. However, the median total cholesterol [3.86 (3.02, 4.62) mmol/l], median triglyceride [1.19 (0.87, 1.51) mmol/l] and LDL-c [2.31(1.58, 2.90) mmol/l] concentrations were relatively higher in the females than the males [3.53 (3.06, 4.61) mmol/l], [0.96 (0.71, 1.60) mmol/l] and [1.86 (1.36, 2.80) mmol/l] respectively. Conversely, the median HDL-c concentration was found to be relatively higher in the male [1.4 (1.21, 1.55) mmol/l] than the female gender [1.33(1.13, 1.51) mmol/l]. The gender disparities in the lipid panel did not however suggest statistical significance. The dynamics in plasma fat status with CD4+ count and viral load suggested a positive and inverse interrelation respectively. Conclusion: Normal plasma fat profiles were typical of the study population. Findings further suggest a plausible positive association between plasma fat and CD4+ count and, an inverse association with viral load.