title: Vitamin A levels and human immunodeficiency virus load in injection drug users.
abstract: Although low plasma vitamin A levels are associated with increased mortality and higher vertical transmission during human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) infection, it is unknown whether plasma low vitamin A levels are a marker for circulating HIV load. We conducted a cross-sectional study within a prospective cohort study of injection drug users in order to evaluate the relationship between plasma vitamin A levels and HIV viral load. Plasma vitamin A level was measured by high-performance liquid chromatography. Infectious viral load was measured by quantitative microculture of serial fivefold dilutions of 10(6) peripheral blood mononuclear cells. A total of 284 HIV-infected adults (79 women, 205 men) were studied. Plasma vitamin A levels consistent with deficiency were found in 28.9% of adults. A total of 38.0% of women and 25.3% of men had vitamin A deficiency (P < 0.04). The median infectious viral load for the entire study population was 8 infectious units per million cells. No significant relationship between plasma vitamin A levels and infectious viral load was observed in these injection drug users. This study suggests that there is no correlation between HIV viral load and plasma vitamin A levels in injection drug users, and these variables may represent independent risk factors during HIV infection. HIV-infected adult women appear to be at higher risk of developing vitamin A deficiency.
authors.affiliation: Department of Ophthalmology, School of Medicine, Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, Maryland, USA. rdsemba@welchlink.welch.jhu.edu
authors.forename: R D
authors.initials: RD
authors.lastname: Semba
authors.forename: H
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Farzadegan
authors.forename: D
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Vlahov
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D015415:Biomarkers / Q000032:analysis; D015331:Cohort Studies; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D005260:Female; D015658:HIV Infections / Q000378:metabolism* / Q000821:virology*; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D015819:Substance Abuse, Intravenous / Q000150:complications*; D019562:Viral Load; D014801:Vitamin A / Q000097:blood*
chemical_list: D015415:Biomarkers; D014801:Vitamin A