Author(s)

Joelle Akissi Koffi^1,2, Hugues Thierno Ahiboh^1,2, Philémond By³, Delphine Gabillard^4,5, Affi Roseline¹, Francisk Kouakou¹, Inwoley Andre¹

¹Centre de Diagnostic et de Recherche sur le SIDA et Autres Maladies Infectieuses, CHU de Treichville, Abidjan, Côte d’Ivoire.
²Département de Biochimie et Biologie Moléculaire, UFR Sciences Pharmaceutiques et Biologiques, Université Félix Houphouet, Boigny, Côte d’Ivoire.
³Laboratoire de Biochimie, Pharmacodynamie, UFR Bosciences, Université Félix Houphouet, Boigny, Côte d’Ivoire.
⁴Programme PAC-CI site ANRS DE Côte d’Ivoire, Abidjan, Côte d’Ivoire.
⁵University of Bordeaux, National Institute for Health and Medical Research (INSERM) UMR 1219, Research Institute for Sustainable Development (IRD) EMR 271, Bordeaux Population Health Centre, Bordeaux, France.

Background: The assessment of iron status using a single biomarker of iron metabolism is not enough sensitive and specific to reliably diagnose iron deficiency associated with multiple comorbidities. The objective of this study was to describe the iron status of people living with HIV in sub-Saharan Africa using a multi-criteria approach based on the determination of blood ferritin, sTfR, CRP and the calculation of sTfR-F index. Methods: This study was conducted using a retrospective panel of 933 sera/plasmas. We determined serum ferritin concentration, serum sTfR concentration, and C-reactive protein (CRP) by immunoturbidimetry for each subject. The sTfR-F index was determined by calculating the sTfR/log ferritin ratio. The statistical test used was Chi². Results: Regardless of the inflammatory syndrome, we determined 3.80%, 30.29%, and 42.70% iron deficiency based on the separate interpretation of ferritin concentration, sTfR, and sTfR-F calculation, respectively. We used those biomarkers in addition to CRP in an algorithm for the diagnosis of iron deficiency. Subjects without inflammatory syndrome, had iron deficiency of 2.89% (n = 26). Taking into account the presence of an inflammatory syndrome, the frequency obtained was n = 88 (9.78%). Overall, iron deficiency was diagnosed in 114 (12.67%) patients when we used the diagnostic algorithm. Conclusion: The use of diagnostic algorithms combining several biomarkers of iron metabolism and taking into account the presence or absence of an inflammatory syndrome is a good approach to detect a large number of iron deficiencies in a population. Therefore, an assessment of the effectiveness of different diagnostic algorithms is necessary.

Iron Deficiency, Iron Metabolism Biomarkers, HIV Infection, CRP

Koffi, J. , Ahiboh, H. , By, P. , Gabillard, D. , Roseline, A. , Kouakou, F. and Andre, I. (2023) Iron Status of a People Living with HIV in Sub-Saharan Africa Using a Multi-Criteria Approach Based on the Determination of Blood Ferritin, sTfR, CRP and sTfR-F Index. Journal of Biosciences and Medicines, 11, 239-246. doi: 10.4236/jbm.2023.115017.