Vitamin A levels in HIV/AIDS

To study the correlation of vitamin A concentrations in patients with AIDS, HIV positive symptom free and HIV negative symptom free men and women.

A cross-sectional study.

Male and female volunteers aged between 15 and 60 years willing to undergo an HIV-test.

Participants came from different backgrounds within the city of Ndola. Some were urban while others were peri-urban dwellers. They were included in the study only if they were willing to undergo the HIV test regardless of their place of residence.

After obtaining consent blood samples were taken from the participants using needle and syringe. Whole blood was used to measure haematological indices while serum was used to measure vitamin A concentrations and HIV status.

One hundred and thirty five participants were recruited for the study. Vitamin A was analysed in eighty seven HIV negative symptom free, forty one HIV-positive symptom free and seven AIDS cases. There was a significant difference (p < 0.05) in the variance of vitamin A levels in the three groups. Vitamin A deficiency is defined as blood concentrations below 30 micrograms/dl. Using this cut-off point, the Odds Ratio for deficiency if HIV-positive was found to be 6.3 (2.5, 16.7 p < 0.0001). The Odds Ratio for HIV and serum vitamin A deficiency was approximately the same for males and females. There was a modest correlation between vitamin A concentrations and haemoglobin (r = 0.34, 95% CI 0.18, 0.48, p < 0.0001).

Vitamin A concentration is lowered in HIV infection. The depletion of vitamin A seems to increase with progression of the infection leading to AIDS disease. Whether regular supplementation of vitamin A to the HIV infected individual can lead to a delayed progression to AIDS needs to be explored.