Dados do Trabalho

Título

EVALUATION OF THE LIPID PROFILE OF INDIVIDUALS WITH VISCERAL LEISHMANIASIS COINFECTED WITH HIV

Introdução

Many patients with visceral leishmaniasis (VL), or kala-azar, and HIV/AIDS show relapsing to the recommended treatment with amphotericin B.

Objetivo(s)

The aim of this study was to investigate whether the reason for this phenomenon is resistance of the agent Leishmania infantum to the drug or whether it is due to patient factors associated with treatment.

Material e Métodos

Amphotericin B susceptibility was evaluated in vitro using the MTT viability test with five L. infantum isolates obtained from HIV-infected individuals on amphotericin B. The lipid profile of 29 individuals with VL and HIV/AIDS with and without refractoriness to amphotericin B treatment was evaluated using the Analisa® (Belo Horizonte, Brazil) kit for total cholesterol, triglycerides, and HDL. The other lipid fractions (LDL and VLDL) were obtained after applying the Friedewald formula.

Resultados e Conclusão

Susceptibility to amphotericin was uniform among the five isolates tested and similar to the reference strain. Co-infected patients had normal levels of total cholesterol and triglycerides, while HDL, LDL and VLDL levels were below the reference value. VLDL, triglyceride and LDL levels were lower in relapsed VL patients than in non-relapsed VL patients. We found no evidence of amphotericin B resistance in isolates obtained from relapsed VL and HIV/AIDS patients. However, the low serum lipid levels in relapsed VL patients opens the possibility that low lipid levels may have interfered with drug action and led to amphotericin B relapsing in VL and HIV/AIDS patients.

Palavras-chave

VISCERAL LEISHMANIASIS; HIV; AMPHOTERICIN B; DRUG RESISTANCE; LIPID METABOLISM.