Functional Antithrombin Levels in HIV/AIDS Patients at Ibadan, Nigeria

Abstract

HIV infected patients have an increased incidence of venous thromboembolism and an important risk factor is antithrombin deficiency. Currently it is estimated that 10% of HIV/AIDS patients who developed venous thromboembolism had antithrombin deficiency with functional antithrombin levels less than 70%. The purpose of this study is to measure functional antithrombin levels in HIV patients prior to development of venous thromboembolic disorder. One hundred and twenty HIV positive and one hundred and twenty-six HIV negative apparently healthy blood donors were studied. Sociodemographic, medical history and clinical characteristics were obtained from the patients. Blood was analyzed for CD4+ lymphocytes count, full blood count and functional antithrombin levels. We also investigated the relationship between functional levels of antithrombin, CD4 + lymphocytes count and some haematological parameters. The functional antithrombin levels were significantly reduced in the people living with HIV/AIDS (72.6%) when compared with the controls (93.7%). There was no correlation between CD4 + lymphocytes count (by proxy the stage of the disease) and functional antithrombin levels in HIV positive patients (r = 0.02, p = 0.9). Patients with HIV infection have a mild deficiency of functional antithrombin that may lead to hypercoagulability.