Bamisaye E.O1*, Adepeju A.A2, Akanni E.O3,
Akinbo D.B1, Omisore A.O4
1Haematology Division, Department of Medical
Laboratory Science, Afe Babalola University, Ado Ekiti, Nigeria
2Chemical
Pathology Laboratory, LAUTECH Teaching Hospital, Osogbo, Nigeria
3Haematology
Division, Department of Medical Laboratory Science, College of Health Science,
Ladoke Akintola University of Technology, Osogbo, Osun state, Nigeria
4Haematology
and Blood Group Serology Laboratory, LAUTECH Teaching Hospital, Osogbo, Nigeria
ABSTRACT- Introduction:
Blood group antigens have been reported to be associated with many diseased
conditions severally. Studies have suggested that ABO blood groups have an
impact on infection status of the individuals possessing a particular blood
group due to the significant associations observed when analyzed. However there
is limited information on the relationship between these blood group antigens
with haemoglobin genotype and CD4 cell count in Human Immunodeficiency Virus
(HIV) infection, hence the need for this study.
Materials
and Method: Exactly
240 newly enrolled seropositive patients attending the HIV Clinic of LAUTECH
Teaching Hospital, Osogbo, Nigeria and 120 healthy blood donors were recruited
for this study. Antibodies to HIV were determined using determine rapid HIV
1/HIV 2 test kit (Abbott), enzyme linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) (GenScreen
plus HIV Ag-Ab test kit, Paris) and Western blot (New-LAV Blot 1, BioRad,
France) for confirmatory test. ABO and Rhesus blood grouping was determined by
standard tile and tube techniques. Haemoglobin genotype determined by alkaline
cellulose acetate haemoglobin electrophoresis while CD4 cell count was
estimated with Partec Cyflow analyser.
Result: There is no significant association between the ABO/Rh antigens and
haemoglobin genotypes of the test and control groups (P<0.05). All
participants in the control group had CD4 count >200cells/mm3
while 198 (55%) HIV infected subjects had CD4 count ≥200cells/mm3
and 42 (11.7%) had CD4 count <200cells/mm3. A significant
association was observed between the CD4 cell count of the patients and their
ABO blood group antigens (P<0.05) with blood group A and AB having the highest
CD4count.
Conclusion: The outcome of this study reiterates the fact that
blood group antigens are involved in immune protection against infectious
disease. Blood group A which has been implicated to confer susceptibility in
some diseased condition has been observed to confer immunity in this study.
Key-words- CD4 cells, Blood Group Antigens, HIV and Haemoglobin
Genotype
