ISSN: 2455-944X Int. J. Curr. Res. Biol. Med. (2017). 2(11): 50-54 50 INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF CURRENT RESEARCH IN BIOLOGY AND MEDICINE ISSN: 2455-944X www.darshanpublishers.com DOI:10.22192/ijcrbm Volume 2, Issue 11 - 2017 Original Research Article Role of serum albumin level compared to CD4 cell count as a marker of immunosuppression in HIV/AIDS patients *Harpreet Singh, **Deepak Mangla, ***Jaswant Singh, ****N. S. Neki *Assistant Professor, **Junior Resident, ***Associate Professor,****Professor & Head, Department of Medicine, Govt. Medical College and Guru Nanak Dev Hospital, Amritsar, India. Corresponding Author: Dr. Deepak Mangla E-mail: mangladeepak8415@gmail.com Abstract Introduction:-HIV infection is very widespread affecting the human society but due to financial constraints there is a need to identify an alternate prognostic markers of immunosuppression other than CD4+ cell count in HIV. Aims:- To evaluate the role of serum albumin level compared to CD4+ cell count as a markers of immunosuppression in HIV/AIDS patients. Material and Methods:- This prospective follow up case control study included 60 HIV/AIDS patients and controls were age and sex matched normal people. Results:- In our study the mean albumin level was 2.70 ± 0.6, There was a Significant positive correlation between CD4 count and albumin level. p=.037, P<0.001. This suggest that the serum albumin marker could be used as a surrogate marker for immunosuppression in HIV/AIDS patients. Conclusion:-Albumin could be used as a supplementary marker for immunosuppression in HIV/AIDS patients. Keywords: Immunosupression, albumin, CD4+ cell count Introduction AIDS is one of the most devastating infectious Diseases in human history, and its causative agent HIV. 1,2 It belongs to the family of human retroviruses (Retroviridae) and the subfamily of lentiviruses. The four retroviruses known to cause human disease belong to two distinct groups: the human T lymphotropic viruses (HTLV)-I and HTLV-II, which are transforming retroviruses; and the human immunodeficiency viruses, HIV-1 and HIV-2, which cause cytopathic effects either directly or indirectly. The most common cause of HIV disease throughout the world, is HIV-1, which comprises several subtypes with different geographic distributions. 6 The disease progression in HIV is defined on the basis of clinical features, CD4 cell count and HIV virus levels estimated by RNA or DNA PCR. CD4+cell counts and HIV RNA levels have been widely accepted as the most reliable indicators of HIV disease progression. Through the advancement there has been improvement in life expectancy. 3 RNA levels are more sensitive and define earlier deterioration or improvement in patients but the onset of various opportunistic infections cannot be correlated with the viral load. Therefore, CD4 count has been used generally in defining stages of illness in HIV 5 . CD4 cell count and HIV viral load measurements are readily available and widely utilized in developed world, but same is not the case with the developing countries where, demographic, financial, logistical and technical issues limit the use of CD4 count and viral RNA levels. As an alternate to these DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.22192/ijcrbm.2017.02.11.007