TABLE 1.
Characteristics of cohort participants at HIV diagnosis1
| Overall (n = 196) | Anemia (n = 110) | No anemia (n = 30) | P2 | |
| Cohort person-years | 1.8 (0.6, 4.1) | 1.2 (0.5, 3.3) | 4.1 (1.7, 7.9) | <0.001 |
| Age, y | 34.3 ± 9.8 | 33.0 ± 8.8 | 34.6 ± 10.1 | 0.42 |
| Female, % | 55 | 53 | 60 | 0.48 |
| HIV status, % | 0.65 | |||
| HIV-1 | 60 | 65 | 60 | |
| HIV-2 | 39 | 35 | 40 | |
| HIV-dual3 | 1 | 0 | 0 | |
| Absolute CD4, cells/μL (n = 182) | 250 (92, 503) | 233 (77, 498) | 408 (243, 699) | 0.003 |
| BMI, kg/m2 (n = 178) | 19.7 ± 4.0 | 19.2 ± 3.5 | 21.6 ± 5.1 | 0.005 |
| BMI <18.5 kg/m2, % | 37 | 33 | 33 | |
| α1-Antichymotrypsin, g/L | 0.41 (0.31, 0.58) | 0.43 (0.39, 0.46) | 0.32 (0.28, 0.36) | 0.003 |
| Hepcidin, μg/L | 22.1 (3.3, 85.9) | 32.2 (2.2, 88.7) | 6.8 (2.1, 53.3) | 0.06 |
| Minimum/maximum | 0.2/402.2 | 0.2/598.4 | 0.2/235.1 | |
| Ferritin, μg/L | 161 (37, 534) | 158 (36, 643) | 90 (28,191) | 0.09 |
| Minimum/maximum | 2.5/1001 | 2.5/1001 | 2.5/1001 | |
| Transferrin, g/L | 1.80 ± 0.64 | 1.75 ± 0.67 | 2.00 ± 0.50 | 0.06 |
| Minimum/maximum | 0.21/3.15 | 0.21/3.36 | 1.26/3.15 | |
| Iron, μmol/L | 9.0 (6.4, 14.4) | 8.5 (6.4, 12.6) | 15.0 (10.0, 18.8) | <0.001 |
| Minimum/maximum | 1.1/41.8 | 3.0/41.8 | 3.8/31.7 | |
| sTfR, nmol/L | 24.4 (17.0, 35.5) | 25.3 (21.5, 28.2) | 19.8 (16.6, 23.0) | 0.02 |
| Minimum/maximum | 5.7/81.0 | 5.7/81.0 | 6.3/62.1 | |
| sTfR/log10 ferritin | 11.1 (7.1, 19.0) | 11.3 (7.3, 18.7) | 10.4 (6.5, 24.1) | 0.55 |
| Minimum/maximum | 2.0/203.5 | 2.0/203.5 | 2.4/102.9 | |
| Hemoglobin, g/L (n = 140) | 10.5 ± 2.3 | 9.6 ± 1.7 | 13.8 ± 1.1 | <0.001 |
| Minimum/maximum | 5.3/16.1 | 5.3/12.9 | 12/16.1 |
For normally distributed continuous variables, values are presented as means ± SDs; nonnormally distributed continuous variables are presented as medians (IQRs) and lower/upper minimum/maximum limits; categorical variables are presented as frequencies (%). All assays were performed with the use of plasma. Anemia was defined according to the WHO definition: men, hemoglobin <13 g/dL; women, hemoglobin <12 g/dL (30). Hemoglobin values were available for 140 participants; therefore, the sum of participants with “anemia” and “no anemia” was equal to 140. sTfR, soluble transferrin receptor.
P values were calculated by comparing group means (Student’s t test for normal distribution, continuous, and Wilcoxon’s rank-sum test for nonnormal distribution, continuous) and or frequencies (chi-square test) between anemic and nonanemic groups.
Given the small number of HIV dual diagnoses, HIV-2 was combined with the HIV-1 group for subsequent analyses.