Abstract:
Background: Chronic inflammation has been associated with dysglycemia among people living with HIV (PLHIV).
There is however, limited data regarding this phenomenon in sub-Sahara Africa (SSA). Therefore we assessed the
levels of C-reactive protein (CRP) and Interleukin 6 (IL-6) on a cohort of PLHIV and its associations with dysglycemia
in Tanzania.
Methods: We conducted a cross-sectional study at the Infectious Disease Clinic (IDC) in Tanzania from March to
May 2018. Purposive sampling was used to identify participants who had an undetectable viral load, were on 1st
line anti-retroviral therapy (ART) and had an overnight fast. The WHO stepwise approach for non-communicable
disease (NCD) surveillance was used to collect data. Fasting blood glucose and blood glucose after 75 g oral
glucose load was measured, and Enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) was used to test for inflammatory
markers (IL-6 and CRP). Associations were explored using the Chi square test and binary logistic regression was
performed to estimate the odds ratios. A p-value less than 0.05 was considered statistically significant.
Results: A total of 240 participants were enrolled. Forty two percent were overweight/obese (> 25 kg/m2), 89% had
a high waist to height ratio. The median ART duration was 8(5–10) years. The prevalence of dysglycemia among
our cohort of PLHIV was 32%. High CRP was associated with a 2.05 increased odds of having dysglycemia OR 2.05
(1.15–3.65) (p= 0.01). Taking stavudine was associated with a 1.99 odds of having dysglycemia OR 1.99 (1.04–3.82)
(p= 0.03).We did not find a significant association between IL-6 and dysglycemia.
Conclusion: High CRP and taking stavudine were significantly associated with dysglycemia among PLHIV with
undetectable viral load.
Keywords: CRP, HIV related inflammation, Diabetes, Pre-diabetes, Tanzania, Sub-Saharan Afric
