Abstract
Thyroid dysfunction is more common in human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) patients. But the effects of highly active antiretroviral therapy (HAART) and hepatitis B/C virus (HBV/HCV) coinfection on thyroid function is unclear. We retrospectively reviewed the data of 178 HIV patients and determined the prevalence of thyroid dysfunction and the relationship between thyroid hormone levels, CD4 cell count, HIV-1 duration, HAART duration/regimens, and HBV/HCV coinfection. Of the 178 patients, 59 (33.1%) had thyroid dysfunction, mostly hypothyroidism. Thyroid dysfunction was significantly more frequent in the HAART group (41/104, 39.4%) than in the HAART-naïve group (18/74, 24.3%; P < 0.05). The mean CD4 cell count was significantly lower in patients with hypothyroidism (372 ± 331/μL) than in the other patients (P < 0.05). The FT4 level was significantly lower in the HAART group than in the HAART-naïve group (1.09 ± 0.23 versus 1.20 ± 0.29 pg/mL, P < 0.05). FT3/FT4 levels were negatively related to HIV duration and FT3 levels were positively related to CD4 cell (P < 0.05). HBV patients had lower FT3 levels, while HCV patients had higher FT3 and FT4 levels (P < 0.05). Thyroid dysfunction is more common in HIV patients on HAART, mainly manifested as hypothyroidism. FT3/FT4 levels are correlated with HIV progression. HBV/HCV coinfection increases the probability of thyroid dysfunction.
Highlights
Human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) infection is characterized by decreased CD4 cell count and immunodeficiency, leading to opportunistic infections (OIs) and tumors [1]
We found that thyroid dysfunction was common in patients infected with HIV, especially, in patients on highly active antiretroviral therapy (HAART), and hypothyroidism accounted for the majority of cases of thyroid dysfunction
We found that the levels of FT3 and FT4 were negatively correlated with the duration of HIV infection and positively correlated with CD4 cell count in the HAART and HAART-naıve groups (P < 0.05), the strength of the correlation was weak (Table 2)
Summary
Human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) infection is characterized by decreased CD4 cell count and immunodeficiency, leading to opportunistic infections (OIs) and tumors [1]. Numerous studies have reported that the incidence of thyroid dysfunction is much higher (about 36%-37%) in patients infected with HIV than in the general population [14, 15]. Other researchers have suggested that the morbidity of overt thyroid dysfunction in BioMed Research International patients infected with HIV is similar to that in the general population [2,3,4,5,6,7,8, 15,16,17,18,19,20,21]. Further research into the prevalence of thyroid dysfunction in patients infected with HIV is required
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