ORIGINAL ARTICLE |
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Year : 2018 | Volume
: 7
| Issue : 1 | Page : 41-44 |
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Characteristics of treatment-naïve human immunodeficiency virus type 1 seropositive individuals with undetectable plasma viral load
Paotinlal Haokip, Rebachandra Singh Heigrujam
Department of Microbiology, Regional Institute of Medical Sciences, Imphal, Manipur, India
Correspondence Address:
Dr. Paotinlal Haokip Department of Microbiology, Regional Institute of Medical Sciences, Imphal - 795 004, Manipur India
Source of Support: None, Conflict of Interest: None | Check |
DOI: 10.4103/ijhas.IJHAS_12_17
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BACKGROUND: Undetectable plasma human immunodeficiency virus type 1 (HIV-1) viral load means the virus load is lower than the detection limit of the assay used, but it does not imply the absence or clearance of the virus from the blood. This study was undertaken to analyze the various characteristics of HIV-1 seropositive antiretroviral therapy (ART)-naïve individuals with undetectable plasma viral load (PVL).
MATERIALS AND METHODS: The present cross-sectional study was conducted on 82 treatment-naïve individuals in a tertiary care teaching institute in Northeast India, from October 2014 to September 2016. PVL was determined by COBAS® TaqMan® HIV-1 test version 2.0, and CD4+ T-lymphocytes' count (CD4 count) was estimated by Fluorescent-Activated Cell Sorter Count™ System. Statistical Package for the Social Sciences software version 16.0 was used for all statistical analyses. Variables were expressed as median, interquartile range, and percentage. P < 0.05 was considered statistically significant.
RESULTS: PVL was not detectable in 8.5% of ART-naïve individuals whose data contributed to these analyses. All the participants were clinically asymptomatic (100%), educated (100%) and majority of them were married (71.4%), and unemployed (85.7%). The CD4 counts ranged from 453 to 1225 cells/μL, with a median CD4 count of 706 cells/μL. The median CD4 count was 776 cells/μL and 671 cells/μL in the males and females, respectively (P = 1.00).
CONCLUSIONS: ART-naïve HIV-1 seropositive individuals with undetectable PVL have a normal CD4 count and no significant gender difference in the median CD4 count.
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