Background: Combined antiretroviral therapy (cART) has caused increased quality of life in Human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) positive patients and administration of this therapy comes with toxicity and possible inflammation. Neutrophil/Lymphocyte Ratio (NLR) is known to link with inflammation, atherosclerosis and platelet activation. Prospectively, we examined the effect of cART on the NLR in HIV+ patients presenting to begin cART in Rivers State University Teaching Hospital.

Aim: This study is aimed at determining the effect of anti-retroviral therapy on Neutrophil Lymphocyte Ratio in Human Immunodeficiency Virus Positive Patients.

Methods: Four (4) millilitre of blood sample each was collected using a vacutainer containing 0.5 ml of 1.2 mg/ml of K2EDTA was collected from 40 subjects recruited for the study. Samples were collected at entry into the study, after 3 months and 6 months on ART respectively for Full Blood Count using a 3-part Sysmex XP300 and HIV Viral Load with RT-PCR using Cobas TaqMan version 1.5 (Roche Molecular Systems).

Results: Subjects mean age was 36.20 years, 14 (35%) of them were males and 26 (65%) were females. Mean Neutrophil: Lymphocyte ratio and HIV viral load (VL) at Month 0, 3 and 6 months were 1.539±1.094 and 215767.85±360338.04 cp/ml, 0.902±0.358 and 705.650±684.220cp/ml and 29.330±17.869cp/ml 0.676±0.171 respectively. There was a statistically significant increase (p < 0.001) in the measured parameters.

Conclusion: There is a plethora of proof which this study agrees with and that is the fact that viral load and inflammation in HIV+ patients reduce considerably by cART. Study has validated the prognostic effect of NLR in the early detection of inflammation. It is therefore necessary to routinely review cART impact using NLR. It is therefore necessary to routinely review cART impact using NLR.

Keywords: Neutrophil/Lymphocyte Ratio (NLR), Combined Antiretroviral Therapy (cART), Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV), Viral Load (VL)