Abstract:
Objectives : To determine the serum dehydroepiandrosterone sulfate (DHEA-S) levels in HIV-1 infected Thai military conscripts compare to HIV-1-seronegative Thai military conscripts. Design : Cross-sectional analytic study. Setting : Armed Forces Research Institute of Medical Sciences (AFRIMS), a research center. Research Methodology : We studied left-over serum samples of selected sample population. This study included 72 HIV-1 infected and 199 HIV-1-seronegative serum samples of Royal Thai Army Conscripts in round of induction May 2006. The serum samples were tested for serum dehydroepiandrosterone sulfate levels, hepatitis B surface antigen, anti hepatitis C virus antibody, rapid plasma reagin, and HIV-1 subtypes B, E, and D IgG-Capture enzyme immunoassay. Results : The median serum DHEA-S levels in HIV-1 infected group and HIV- 1-seronegative group were 1.23 and 1.42 micrograms/ml, respectively. There was significant difference in serum DHEA-S levels between two groups (p=0.037). Conclusion: Serum DHEA-S levels in asymptomatic HIV-1 infected Thai military conscripts were lower than serum DHEA-S levels in HIV-1-seronegative Thai military conscripts statistically significant.
