Iron metabolism and antiretroviral therapy (ART) in women with HIV in Abidjan (Côte d’Ivoire)

We have initiated the investigations in women of reproductive age with HIV to evaluate and to characterize their iron metabolism. Moreover, to demonstrate the importance of ART, a study was conducted to compare the iron stores and the components of iron status between women of reproductive age with ART and those naive of ART. To do this, 60 women with ART and 60 women naive of ART were recruited in a specialized centre for treatment of HIV (ICBRA) based on the criteria for inclusion and exclusion. The mean age of women was 35.9 ± 0.4 years with extremes of 18 and 45 years. Blood samples were obtained from each subject to search the different biological indicators of iron status assessment. The results of our investigations showed that all the biological parameters searched of iron status evaluation, are degraded in enrolled women. Otherwise, our study revealed that women naive of ART indicated a more altered iron status than those with ART (88.3 % vs 78.3 %). Abnormal iron status consisted of iron deficiency, iron deficiency anaemia, inflammatory anaemia and inflammatory anemia associated with iron deficiency. Among the different components of iron status, inflammatory anaemia indicated high prevalence rates both in women naive of ART and women with ART (70 % vs 65 %). It appears from this study that antiretroviral treatment greatly disturbs iron metabolism in women of reproductive age with HIV infection. In addition, the inflammatory anaemia is significantly associated with ART in women with HIV infection.