The effects of gender on clinical and immunological response to antiretroviral therapy among people living with HIV in Ile-Ife, Nigeria

Abstract

Introduction: Gender may influence treatment outcome in people living with human immunodeficiency virus (HIV). This study aimed to determine the role of gender in the clinical and immunological responses of patients on antiretroviral therapy (ART). Material and methods: Two hundred and twenty-seven patients from the Virology Research Clinic, of the Obafemi Awolowo University Teaching Hospital, Ile-Ife, Nigeria had their records retrieved. These were retrospectively analyzed to assess the clinical and immunological responses to therapy at commencement of ART and every 6 months thereafter for 2 consecutive years. Results: Females account for 67.8% of the subjects. Mean ages at initiation of ART for males and females were 42.47 and 36.27 years, respectively. Prior to the initiation of ART, the mean body mass index (BMI) in males (21.26) was slightly higher than that of females (20.94), while the CD4 cell count was higher in females (198 cells/μl) than in males (183 cells/μl). The differences in the mean BMI between the genders were not significant after the first (p = 0.09) and second (p = 0.18) year of treatment. The mean CD4 cell counts after the first and second year were 336 and 434 cells/μl in males and 427 and 544 cells/μl in females, respectively. The differences between both genders were significant with a p-value of 0.000 and 0.003 for the first and second year. Conclusions: Antiretroviral therapy has improved the outlook of people living with HIV. In comparison with the male counterparts, this study found that the female gender gives a better complement to outcome derived from ART.