Effect of Azidothymidine on CD4 Positive T Cells in HIV Positive Patients

The effects of Azidothymidine (AZT) on the level of CD₄ positive T cells in seropositive HIV patients regularly visiting the University Teaching Hospital, Port Harcourt and Braithwaite Memorial Hospital were selected for this investigation. Treatment group consisted of patients that received AZT at doses of 5mg/kg orally whereas the control group received placebo. The result shows that AZT increased significantly ( P ≤ 0.01) CD₄ + T cells level from 700 ± 3.00μl to 950±3.00μl while in the control group the significant decline (P ≤ 0.01) of CD₄ + T cells continued. This is indicative of the protective effects of AZT in preventing the destruction of CD₄ + T cells by the HIV virus. The increased CD₄ + T cells levels in the AZT treated patients was followed by concomitant reduction of the frequencies and severity of the HIV disease symptoms such as opportunistic infections and Lymphadenopathy. The control group had increase in the frequency and severity of these symptoms. The results of this study indicate that the use of AZT in the treatment of HIV positive patients is justified and therefore recommended especially in blacks. @JASEM