Abstract

The introduction of antiretroviral therapy (ART) for use in management of HIV and AIDS, compounded with the routine use of CD4+ T-cell counts as surrogate markers of drug efficacy and disease progression significantly increased the life expectancy among HIV-infected patients. This study determined the pattern of, Aspartate Aminotransferase (AST), Alanine amino transaminase (ALT), Alkaline Phosphatase (ALP) and Total bilirubin (T.Bil) in HIV positive patients on above 6 months and less than 6 months antiretroviral therapy. Blood samples were collected from consented HIV positive individuals, who were sampled using convenience sampling in an institutional based cross sectional study design. The samples were collected in to sterile blank tubes, and immediately taken to the Bamenda Regional Hospital laboratory and analysed for levels of ALT, AST, ALP and T.Bil using the URIT 990 semi-automated biochemistry machine following standardised methods. SPSS version 23 was used for data analysis and statistical significance was considered if p value was less than 0.05. There was a statistically significant difference between the mean values of ALT in patients on ART above 6 months (13.04IU/L) and below 6 months (9.59IU/L) (p=0.011). However, the mean AST values indicated no statistically significant in patients on ART above 6 months (19.3IU/L) and below 6 months (16.01IU/L) (p=0.33). There was no statistically significant difference between the mean values of ALT in patients on ART above 6 months (13.04IU/L) and below 6 months (9.59IU/L) (p=0.27). With T.Bil, there was an observed statistically significant difference between the mean values of T.Bil in patients on ART above 6 months (0.7mg/dl) and below 6 months (0.5mg/dl) (p=0.02). The study indicated that the level of the analytes were statistically different in patients on ART above 6 months compared to those who had been on ART below 6 months except for AST and ALP. There is need for a closer follow up of patients on ART above 6 months for acute liver intoxication.