A Study on the Activities of Liver Enzymes in HIV/AIDS Patients

Abstract

A study was conducted to compare the activities of liver enzymes in 25 patients with human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) infection and those with the acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS). The patients were between 20 and 50 years of age. The findings were compared with reference subjects who were negative to the antibody produced by the human immunodeficiency virus. The activities of serum alanine-aminotransferase (P<0.01), asparte-aminotransferase (P<0.03) and alkaline phosphatase (P<0.001) observed in HIV infected/AIDS patients were significantly higher than those in the reference group. Non significant differences were observed with regards to sex in the serum levels of the three afore-mentioned liver enzymes. Therefore, it may be concluded that increase in the three liver enzymes is most likely due to impairment/involvement of the liver in HIV infection. The enzymes may be useful markers for HIV and AIDS