Objectives: To determine the anemia prevalence and the correlation between complete blood count (CBC) analysis and renal function parameters in HIV-1-infected population.
Methods: It was a single-center study set in Warsaw (Poland) over a 3-year period. The study was performed in 214 adult HIV-1- infected patients (180 males and 34 females, aged from 20 to 69 years old, mean age 39.55 years, 130 on combined antiretroviral therapy, cART). Glomerular filtration rate (GFR) was estimated using the re-expressed Modification of Diet in Renal Disease (MDRD) and the Chronic Kidney Disease Epidemiology Collaboration (CKD-EPI) formulas. In statistical analyses U Mann-Whitney and Spearman correlation test as logistic regression analysis was used.
Results: 25.2% of studied patients were anemic. In all of them, estimated GFR (eGFR) was positively correlated with red blood cells (RBC) and platelet (PLT) count, and negatively correlated with mean corpuscular volume (MCV) and mean corpuscular hemoglobin concentration (MCHC). All these correlations were statistically significant (p < 0.001) and independent of gender and used type of eGFR formula. In logistic regression analysis, lower eGFR strongly predicted lower RBC and PLT levels (p < 0.0001; OR 0.08, 95%CI: 0.03, 0.22 and OR 0.99, 95%CI: 0.987, 0.993, respectively).
Conclusions: Our findings suggest a strong association between CBC and renal function in ARV-treated HIV-infected patients who fulfilled the criteria of anemia. Consequently, eGFR in all HIV-infected subjects with anemia, especially on treatment with nephrotoxic drugs and concomitant thrombocytopenia, should be monitored more frequently then standardly recommended every 3-6 months.