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 (p<0.05) was considered statistically significant: (i) fibronectin level in both test and control, (ii) CD4+ count in both test and control, (iii) fibronectin level for CD4+ count less than or equal to 200 (CD4+ ≤ 200) and CD4+ count greater than 200 (CD4+ >200). 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<0.001). Equally, comparison of CD4+ count between the test and control group showed a highly significant statistical difference (p<0.001). The study of the effect of treatment with HAART on the subjects showed a rise in fibronectin level between 1-5 years which is statistically significant (p<0.01). Fibronectin level increased with increasing duration of treatment though there was a drop which is not statistically significant at 6-7 years of treatment.
From this study, we conclude that fibronectin concentration may not be used as a biological marker in HIV/AIDS patients.
