A study of prothrombotic factors in human immunodeficiency virus-infected patients

Introduction: Human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) infection has been described as a hypercoagulable state. Some studies suggest that thrombotic events may be 2-10 times more prevalent in this group than in the general population. Subjects and Methods: This was a single-center, cross-sectional case-control study. Thirty confirmed HIV cases of age group 20-60 years were enrolled. A similar number of age- and sex-matched healthy volunteers were taken as controls. CD4 cell count, protein C, protein S, antithrombin III (AT III), anticardiolipin antibody, and highly sensitivity C-reactive protein (hs-CRP) estimation was done and correlated with the CD4 counts. Results: Among HIV cases, 40% were protein C deficient, while 10% were deficient in control group (P = 0.015). One-third (33%) were AT III deficient in HIV-infected group, while none were observed AT III deficient in control group (P < 0.001). Protein C and antithrombin levels did not correlate with CD4 count. Protein S levels were normal in all the HIV-infected cases. Anticardiolipin antibody was not detected in any patient among HIV group. Mean hs-CRP levels in cases and controls were 20.18 ± 12 mg/dl and 3.32 ± 5.13 mg/dl, respectively (P < 0.0005). Conclusion: Protein C deficiency and AT III deficiency were found to be significantly associated with HIV infection. The hs-CRP levels were significantly elevated in HIV-infected patients' protein C deficiency, increased level of hs-CRP, and AT III deficiency did not correlate with CD4 cell count.