Correlation between the immuno-virological response and the nutritional profile of treatment-experienced HIV-infected patients in the East region of Cameroon

Background HIV management remains concerning and even more challenging in the frame of comorbidities like malnutrition that favors disease progression and mortality in resource-limited settings (RLS). Objective To describe the nutritional parameters of antiretroviral therapy (ART) recipients (without nutritional support) with respect to CD4 count and virological failure. Methods A cross-sectional study was conducted from October to December 2018 among 146 consenting participants enrolled in two health facilities of the East-Region of Cameroon. Socio-demographic data, basic clinical information and treatment history were collected; blood samples were collected by venipuncture for laboratory analysis (HIV-1 viral load, CD4 Tcells measurement and biochemical analysis) performed at the "Chantal Biya" International Reference Center", Yaounde, Cameroon. The nutritional profile was assessed by using anthropometric and biochemical parameters. Data were analyzed using Excel 2016, Graph pad prism version 6; Spearman correlation and Kruskal-Wallis test were used; with p