Abstract

Diabetes mellitus (DM), mycobacterium tuberculosis (TB) and human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) are important health issues. A bi-directional association between them has been demonstrated by many researchers. The link of DM and TB/HIV is more prominent in developing countries where TB and HIV are endemic and the burden of diabetes mellitus is increasing. A total of 845 subjects were recruited for this study. Fasting blood sugar was determined by the glucose oxidase method while HIV serology was performed using the National Algorithm. The method adopted for mycobacterium tuberculosis identification was the geneXpart as described by Tenover. The prevalence of DM in HIV seropositive subject co-infected with mycobacterium tuberculosis was 107 (12.6%). Out of the 350 patient that tested positive for HIV, 38 (4.5%) had DM, 11 (1.3%) were of Type-1 origin while 27 (3.2%) were of Type-2 origin. On the other hand, 450 patients were TB positive, 45 (5.3%) had DM, 9 (1.0%) were of Type-1 origin while 36 (4.3%) were of Type-2 origin while that of HIV seropositive subjects co-infected with TB: 24 (2.8%) had DM, 5 (0.5%) were Type-1 origin while 19 (2.2%) were of Type-2 origin. There are highly more female 57 (6.7%) with DM than male 50 (5.9%). Our finding has shown no significant increase in the mean blood glucose concentration of HIV seropositive subjects compared with individuals infected with TB (P < 0.05). A significant increase was observed in HIV seropositive subjects co-infected with TB compared with HIV seropositive individuals (P > 0.05). The same pattern was observed in HIV seropositive subjects co-infected with TB compared with individual infected with HIV (P > 0.05). It is recommended that all patients with HIV and mycobacterium tuberculosis infections should be screened for diabetes mellitus as this would help in effective management of the disease conditions.

Keywords: Diabetics mellitus, TB, HIV, mycobacterium tuberculosis, seropositive.