Trends in Serum Lipid Profile in HIV, Tuberculosis and Tuberculosis/HIV Co-Infected Patients at Three-Day Care Centres in Fako Division, Southwest Region of Cameroon

Background: Despite the reasonable goals and achievements with Antiretroviral (ARV) Therapy and Anti-Tuberculosis Drugs (ATD), several metabolic disturbances, such as abnormal serum lipid profile, have been observed during treatment with ARVs and ATD. Objectives: To evaluate serum lipid profile in HIV and TB patients (before and after initiation of treatment) and their association with some possible risk factors. Methods: One hundred and twenty-five patients were consecutively recruited at initiation to treatment and followed up for 12 weeks. Serum Total-Cholesterol (TC), High-Density-Lipoprotein-Cholesterol (HDLc), Low-Density Lipoprotein-Cholesterol (LDLc) and Triglycerides (TG) were measured spectrophotometrically to determine the serum lipid profile of participants. Results: A significant association was recorded comparing the cumulative incidence of abnormal serum lipid profile (HDLc and LDLc) of the study participants before the initiation of treatment and after initiation of therapy, with a 2.26 and 3.57 times likelihood of those on treatment to developing abnormal HDL and LDLc respectively (χ2 =7.4, p = 0.007; O.R; 2.26, 95% C.I; 1.25-4.10; χ2 =14.79, p = 0.00012; O.R; 3.57, 95% C.I; 1.82-6.98, respectively). There was a significant association between the level of TC and the type of drug regimen, with those on ATD/HAART having a higher frequency (8/17(47.1%)) of abnormal TC compared to their counterpart. There is a significant association between the level of TG and body mass index BMI (χ2 = 13.95, p = 0.003). Conclusion: This study shows TB and HIV/AIDS alter lipid levels, and their respective treatments can exacerbate these effects, with TC levels being affected significantly by combination ATD/HAART therapy. Therefore, understanding these changes is crucial to patient management.