Factor VIII concentration is greater in female than male patients with HIV infection

The purpose of the present study was comparing plasma markers of coagulation between men and women in both HIV-infected patients and controls. Fifty-eight HIV-infected patients and 58 healthy participants who were individually matched with patients in age and sex were included in the study. We simultaneously collected blood samples for CD4+ T cell count, CD8+ T cell count, platelets count, hemoglobin, partial thromboplastin time (PTT), prothrombin time, international normalized ratio and blood type measurements. We used fresh plasma of the studied population to measure factor VIII, fibrinogen, antithrombin, protein C and protein S levels. CD4+ T cell count, CD8+ T cell count, platelet count, PTT, plasma fibrinogen, antithrombin, protein C and protein S levels were significantly lower, and plasma factor VIII levels were significantly higher in HIV patients. Factor VIII levels were significantly higher in HIV-infected women than HIV-infected men [200 (181-258) vs. 170 (150-194), p < 0.05]. This difference remained significant [219.7 (195.8-248.7) vs. 158 (136.5-180.3), p < 0.001] after multiple adjustments for age, CD8+ and CD4+ T cell count, using general linear model. Plasma factor VIII concentration was significantly higher in HIV-infected women after stratifying the patients into O, B, A and AB blood groups when there was not any gender difference in controls. We suggest that there is a sexual dimorphism in factor VIII concentration in HIV-infected patients.