Human Immune deficiency Virus (HIV) infected patients have many deficiencies
and vitamin D could be one of them. This could be due to HIV disease-related
factors, such as poor intake and absorption, impaired liver and kidney function,
less sun exposure and interference of Antiretroviral (ARV) with vitamin D
metabolism. This can have detrimental effects on health. In HIV patients, vitamin
D is important for healthy cell function and immunity to illness. Evidence shows
that vitamin D modulates the adaptive immune system through direct effects
on T cell activation and functioning of Antigen presenting cells. This study
determined the serum vitamin D levels in 118 HIV infected patients on Antiretroviral
therapy and those not on Antiretroviral therapy visiting the Aga Khan University
Hospital. The association of vitamin D level, CD4 cell count and HIV viral load
were evaluated. Liver enzymes and bilirubin were determined to evaluate liver
function. The total viral load in blood samples was determined using COBAS
Ampliprep/TaqMan HIV-1 test kit. The CD4 cells count was done using
fluorescence- activated cell sorter system. Vitamin D in serum was determined
using electrochemiluminescence binding assay in Cobas E601 mass analyzers.
The percentage of patients with deficient levels (≤20ng/ml) of serum
vitamin D was 39%. Vitamin D deficiency was proportionately higher in
patients who were not on ART than in patients who were on ART. Abnormal
levels of serum enzymes were observed to associate with deficient levels of
vitamin D. sufficient levels of vitamin D was found to associate with high CD4
cell count and low viral load. These observations suggest a need to enhance ART
with vitamin D supplements in order to ameliorate the detected deficiency as a
strategy to improve HIV management.