TITLE:
Laboratory Profile of HIV-2 and Dual HIV-1/HIV-2 Associated Acquired Immunodeficiency Syndrome in Nigeria
AUTHORS:
Georgina Njideka Odaibo, David Olufemi Olaleye
KEYWORDS:
HIV-2; HIV1/2 Dual Infection; CD4; Hematology; Chemistry; Nigeria
JOURNAL NAME:
World Journal of AIDS,
Vol.3 No.3,
September
5,
2013
ABSTRACT: Background: HIV-2 is comparatively less pathogenic with slow
progression of infection to clinical disease and consequently there is less of
information on the occurrence of HIV-2 associated disease than HIV-1. We hereby
describe some laboratory profiles of individuals presenting with HIV-2 and dual
HIV-1/2 related AIDS at the University College hospital in Ibadan over a period
of seven years. Methodology: Blood
samples from patients presenting with the AIDS defining illness at the
University College Hospital, Ibadan, Nigeria were tested for antibodies to
HIV-1/2 using rapid test devices or ELISA. Initially reactive samples were
further tested by immunoblotting for differentiation into HIV-1 or HIV-2 or
HIV-1/2 dual infection. Blood samples from individuals with confirmed infections
were further analyzed for CD4 cell lymphocyte number, plasma HIV-1 RNA
concentration, hematological and blood chemistry parameters. The data analysis
was done using descriptive statistics and Levene-S test for equality of
variance. Results: Thirty five patients,
18 and 17 with HIV-2 and dual HIV-1/2 infections respectively were identified
during the period covered by this study (2005-2012). The median age of the
patients was 48 years old (Range: 42 - 70 years old) and mean CD4 cell count of
HIV-2 patients at enrollment was 324 (Range: 16 - 696) and 350 (Range 54 - 863)
per microlitre of blood for patients with dual HIV-1/2 infection. HIV-1 RNA was
not detected in the plasma of the 18 patients with serological HIV-2 infection
but 2 (11.8%) of the 17 patients with dual HIV-1/2 serological profile had
detectable HIV-1 RNA (1,287,275 copies/ml and 1,816,491 copies/ml). Conclusion: The results emphasize the
need to consider HIV-2 infection in the investigation of patients presenting
with the AIDS related illness but with negative HIV-1serology. The study also
shows the importance of inclusion of multispot HIV-1 and 2 rapid tests for
differentiating HIV-1 from HIV-2 infections in regions where both types of HIV
circulate or epidemiologically indicated.