Research Article Impact of HIV Infection and Zidovudine Therapy on RBC Parameters and Urine Methylmalonic Acid Levels Adewumi Adediran, 1 Vincent Osunkalu, 1 Tamunomieibi Wakama, 2 Sarah John-Olabode, 1 Akinsegun Akinbami, 3 Ebele Uche, 3 and Sulaimon Akanmu 1 1 Department of Haematology and Blood Transfusion, College of Medicine, University of Lagos, Idi-Araba, Lagos 100254, Nigeria 2 Department of Haematology and Blood Transfusion, National Hospital, Abuja 900241, Nigeria 3 Department of Haematology and Blood Transfusion, Lagos State University Teaching Hospital, Ikeja, Lagos 100271, Nigeria Correspondence should be addressed to Adewumi Adediran; adediranadewumi@yahoo.com Received 29 September 2015; Revised 5 January 2016; Accepted 13 January 2016 Academic Editor: Sandro Cinti Copyright © 2016 Adewumi Adediran et al. Tis is an open access article distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited. Background. Anaemia is a common complication of human immunodefciency virus (HIV) infection. Te aim of this study was to investigate the impact of HIV infection and zidovudine on red blood cells (RBC) parameters and urine methylmalonic acid (UMMA) levels in patients with HIV infection. Material and Methods. A cross-sectional study involving 114 subjects, 94 of which are HIV-infected nonanaemic and 20 HIV negative subjects (Cg) as control. Full blood count parameters and urine methylmalonic acid (UMMA) level of each subject were determined. Associations were determined by Chi-square test and logistic regression statistics where appropriate. Results. Subjects on zidovudine-based ART had mean MCV (93 fL) higher than that of control group (82.9 fL) and ART-na¨ ıve (85.9fL) subjects and the highest mean RDW. Mean UMMA level, which refects vitamin B12 level status, was high in all HIV-infected groups but was signifcantly higher in ART-na¨ ıve subjects than in ART-experienced subjects. Conclusion. Although non-zidovudine therapy may be associated with macrocytosis (MCV > 95 fL), zidovudine therapy and ART naivety may not. Suboptimal level of vitamin B12 as measured by high UMMA though highest in ART-na¨ ıve subjects was common in all HIV- infected subjects. 1. Introduction Anaemia is the most common haematological complication of HIV infection. Prevalence of anaemia in HIV infection varies from 1.3% to 95% [1–3]. Tough the World Health Organization (WHO) defnes anaemia as a haemoglobin concentration of <13 g/dL for men and <12 g/dL for nonpregnant women, haemoglobin cut of of <10 g/dL is ofen used for clinical stratifcation in HIV infection [4]. Anaemia in HIV infection may result from direct efect of the virus on the bone marrow through the expression of proinfammatory cytokines that suppress erythropoiesis [5]. A study in Malawi demonstrated a decreased number of both CD34+ progenitor cells and primitive erythroid progenitors in bone marrow of HIV-infected children [6]. A report has demonstrated circulating autoantibodies against endogenous erythropoietin in some HIV-infected patients due to molecular mimicry between erythropoietin and the HIV-1 p17 protein blunting the normal physiologic cytokine response to anaemia [7]. Other causes of anaemia in HIV infection include opportunistic infections, nutritional def- ciencies from iron, folic acid, and vitamin B12, and toxicities from medications such as antiretroviral therapy (ART) [4, 8]. Highly active antiretroviral therapy (HAART) regimen (a combination of at least three drugs selected from the fol- lowing main groups: nucleoside-analogue reverse transcrip- tase inhibitors (NRTIs), nonnucleoside reverse transcriptase inhibitors (NNRTIs), protease inhibitors (PIs), and entry inhibitors) decreases viral replication, restores immunologic function, and inhibits acceleration of HIV disease [9]. However, while some ART groups positively impart FBC parameters, NRTIs, most especially zidovudine, the frst drug approved for the treatment of HIV infection, has Hindawi Publishing Corporation Interdisciplinary Perspectives on Infectious Diseases Volume 2016, Article ID 5210963, 5 pages http://dx.doi.org/10.1155/2016/5210963