Lymphocyte Transformation and Nitro-blue Tetrazolium Reduction Rate of Neutrophils among HIV Infected Adults in Sokoto Metropolis

Aim: The study was aimed at evaluating the functional activity of lymphocytes and neutrophils among HIV positive adults in Sokoto, Nigeria.

Study Design: This was a cross sectional comparative study of HIV positive subjects on HAART, HAART Naïve and apparently healthy control participants.

Methodology: A total of 157 adults were recruited for the study comprised of90 HIV seropositive subjects and 67 age and sex-matched apparently healthy controls.The subjects (HIV infected participants) were further sub-grouped into four different groups based on the revised WHO standard criteria for staging of HIV/AIDS infected adults; as Clinical stage I (n=31), Clinical stage II (n=25), Clinical stage III (n=19) and Clinical stage IV (n=15).The CD4+ cells were evaluated using flow cytometric method, percentage transformed cells were evaluated using culture techniques and neutrophil phagocytic activity was determined using Nitro- Blue Tetrazolium reduction test (NBT). Data were analyzed using SPSS Version 20. A p-value ≤ 0.05 was considered statistically significant.

Result: The CD4+ count, percentage lymphocyte transformation and Neutrophil ingestion rate of NBT were significantly lowered in HIV infected subjects compared with controls (p<0.05). The CD4+ count, percentage transformed cells and formazan generated by neutrophil was significantly higher among female subjects compared with male subjects (p<0.05).

Conclusion: Our findings revealed a lowered blast formation and neutrophil ingestion rate of NBT indicating a functional derangement in the innate and adaptive immune responses.