Abstract

THYROID DYSFUNCTION IN PATIENTS WITH HIV INFECTION

Dr. Sunanda Amonkar, Dr. Vaibhav Dukle, Dr. Lavita D’costa*, Dr. Chitra Y. Dhume

Abstract

The aims of the study were to investigate the prevalence of overt and subclinical thyroid dysfunction of HIV-infected patients in Goa Medical College, identify the patterns of thyroid dysfunction prevalent in the study population, determine risk factors associated with the development of thyroid dysfunction in HIV-infected patients and to assess the applicability of thyroid function tests as biochemical indicator of advanced HIV disease. The antiretroviral drug regimens the patients in this study received comprised three of the following antiretroviral drugs; zidovudine, stavudine, lamivudine, nevirapine and efavirenz. In the present study, there was no statistically significant association between receipt of the above mentioned antiretroviral drugs and thyroid dysfunction or hypothyroidism. In the present study, the mean CD4 count was lower in patients with abnormal thyroid function tests (205.6 cell/mm3) compared to those with normal thyroid function (344.3 cell/mm3). The difference was found to be statistically significant. The study range included subjects between 22-62 years. The mean age of the study population was 40.7 ± 9.7 years. The patients with thyroid infection were older than the euthyroid patients (mean age 43.8 ± 7.8 v/s 39.8 ± 10.1 months), however there was no statistically significant association between age and development of thyroid dysfunction in HIV-infected individuals (p value =0.143).

Keywords: Thyroid dysfunction, HIV infection, T3 and FT3, CD4 cell counts, highly active antiretroviral therapy (HAART).