Biochemical value dynamics in patients with multidrug-resistant tuberculosis/hiv with CD4+ lymphocyte cells below 50 cells/μCL and its variability in the application of adjuvant immunoglobulin therapy.

CONTEXT: Treatment of the patients with multidrug-resistant tuberculosis (MDR-TB)/HIV coinfection in a state of severely suppressed immune system remains under efficient.

AIMS: The aim of this study was to assess the effectiveness of adjuvant immunoglobulin therapy in TB/HIV patients.

SETTINGS AND

DESIGN

The relationship between biochemical indexes in the patients with MDR-TB/HIV co-infection and adjuvant immunoglobulin therapy.

MATERIALS AND

METHODS

The study involved 52 HIV-positive patients with MDR-TB and CD4+ lymphocyte cells below 50 cells/μCL. Patients in control group (Group 1) and in basic group (Group 2) received standard treatment with second-line antituberculosis agents and antiretroviral agents. In addition patients in basic group were treated by immunoglobulin G intravenously. The evaluation of biochemical parameters such as bilirubin level, thymol test, the activity of alanine aminotransferase (ALT), aspartate aminotransferase (AST), and gamma-glutamyltransferase (GGT) was carried out on automatic analyzer HumaStar 300 at the beginning and after 0.5-8 months of treatment. Statistical analysis was performed using the Statistica 10.0 software (Stat. Soft Inc., USA). Kruskal-Wallis, ANOVA, and Chi-square tests were used in this study.

RESULTS

After 8 months of treatment, studied biochemical indexes were lower in Group 2 than in patients from Group 1. For example, the number of patients in Group 2 with increased bilirubin level was 1.7 times more than in Group 1 (p < 0.05), with increased ALT, AST, or GGT activity in 2.5 times (p < 0.01), 2.7 times (p < 0.01), or 2.4 times (p < 0.05) correspondently, comparatively with Group 1.

CONCLUSION

The usage of immunoglobulins intravenously in the group of patients with MDR-TB associated with HIV infection, with CD4+ level <50 cells/μCL, is appropriate and essential because it improves treatment outcome.