Serum Fibronectin Levels In People Living With Hiv/Aids

ABSTRACT

Serum fibronectin level was investigated in people living with HIV/AIDS. A

total of 161 subjects were recruited into the study. Out of this, 98 (60.9%)

constituted the patient population while 63 (39.1%) formed the controls. The

age range considered was between 10 to 65 years. Ethical clearance was

obtained from the Health Research Ethics Committee (HREC) of University of

Nigeria Teaching Hospital, (UNTH) Ituku Ozalla. Informed consent was

obtained from the participants and questionnaires were used to collect some

vital data from them. Human fibronectin ELISA kit from WKEA Med Supplies

Corp. was used to assay for fibronectin concentration while CD4+ count was

assayed using PARTEC CD4+ easy count kit. The relationship between

fibronectin level and CD4+ count was investigated using Spearman’s

Correlation Coefficient. Test of significance for the following parameters was

conducted using the Student’s t-test and probability values less than 0.05

(p200). The effect of duration of treatment with

HAART on fibronectin level in the patient group was investigated using the

Analysis of Variance Technique (ANOVA). From the result of the study, no

correlation existed between fibronectin concentration and CD4+ count in the

patient population (r=-0.084, p=0.1911). The same holds for the control

group (r=-0.02, p=0.5931). Comparison of fibronectin level between the test

and control group showed a highly significant statistical difference (p