title: [Impact of antiretroviral therapy on occurrences of macrocytosis in patients with HIV/AIDS in Maringá, State of Paraná].
abstract: BACKGROUND
  AIDS is a disease caused by HIV that compromises the organism's immune system. The advent of highly active antiretroviral therapy (HAART) has promoted substantial improvement in the prognosis for this disease and in HIV/AIDS patients' quality of life. During prolonged treatment, certain hematological disorders are observed, such as anemia and macrocytosis, as well as deficiencies of micronutrient such as vitamin B12 and folic acid. The objective of this study was to correlate the presence of macrocytosis and anemia with HAART use or vitamin B12 and folic acid deficiencies.
  
  
  METHODS
  110 HIV-positive patients were included, in three groups: HAART use with zidovudine (AZT) (group 1), HAART use without AZT (group 2) and no HAART (group 3).
  
  
  RESULTS
  None of the patients in any of the three groups presented statistically significant differences relating to hemoglobin level (p = 0.584) or folic acid level (p = 0.956). Group 1 (G1) had a higher mean corpuscular volume (MCV) than G3 (p < 0.05), and group 2 (G2) had a higher volume than group 3 (G3) (p < 0.001). Vitamin B12 levels in G1 and G3 were smaller than those in G2 (p = 0.008).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  It was concluded that patients undergoing HAART treatment presented macrocytosis, even though this could not be correlated with the type of HAART or with vitamin B12 deficiency. However, folic acid deficiency was unrelated to either HAART or macrocytosis.
authors.affiliation: Departamento de Doenças Tropicais e Diagnóstico por Imagem, Faculdade de Medicina de Botucatu, Universidade Estadual Paulista, Botucatu, SP. odeteco@hotmail.com
authors.forename: Odete Correia Antunes de
authors.initials: OC
authors.lastname: Oliveira
authors.forename: Ramon Antunes de
authors.initials: RA
authors.lastname: Oliveira
authors.forename: Lenice do Rosário de
authors.initials: Ldo R
authors.lastname: Souza
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000748:Anemia, Macrocytic / Q000139:chemically induced*; D019380:Anti-HIV Agents / Q000009:adverse effects* / Q000627:therapeutic use; D023241:Antiretroviral Therapy, Highly Active / Q000009:adverse effects*; D018791:CD4 Lymphocyte Count; D005260:Female; D005494:Folic Acid Deficiency / Q000139:chemically induced*; D015658:HIV Infections / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000188:drug therapy*; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D019562:Viral Load; D014806:Vitamin B 12 Deficiency / Q000139:chemically induced*; D015215:Zidovudine / Q000009:adverse effects / Q000627:therapeutic use
chemical_list: D019380:Anti-HIV Agents; D015215:Zidovudine