Sociodemographic and clinical characteristics based on their cd4:cd8 ratio. of HIV infected persons who consulted at Corporación para Investigacio-nes Biológicas of Medellín, Colombia

Abstract

Introduction: Human Immunodeficiency Virus type 1 (HIV-1+) patients with a CD4:CD8 ratio < 1 presents a higher risk of morbidity and mortality due to notassociated AIDS events. The aim was to explore, in the selected population, sociodemographic and clinical variables, based on that ratio,because it is more informative than LT CD4+ and LT CD8+ by themselves. Materials and Methods: Observational, in HIV-1 in-fected patients attended at Biological Research Corporation. In 227 patients, age differences, LT CD4+ count, viral load, number and type of treatments were evaluated. The patients were divided in group A with a CD4:CD8 ratio equal or above to 1, and B bellow 1. Results: The study includes 71% of male and 29% of female. 22,5% were from group A and 77,5% from B. The mean of age was 42,8 years old in A and 45,3 years old in B (p=0,176). 100% of individuals from group A receive treatment, meanwhile 97,7% in B. Mean of LT CD4+ count was 772,4 cell/μL in A and 448,1 cell/μL in B (p=0,00001). In A, 90,2% had undetectable viral load vs 68,8% in B (p=0,002). 41,2% in A had only one type of treatment, vs 43,8% in B (p=0,744). Conclusion: Most of the patients had a CD4:CD8 ratio bellow to 1, despite an acceptable count of LTCD4++. To find a ratio bellow 1 in patients without an adequate virological control was more frequent. More studies to determinate variables associated with its normalization are required.

Keywords

• acquired immunodeficiency syndrome
• cd4-cd8 ratio
• cross-sectional studies
• hiv-1