Symptomatic gallstones and HIV in black South African women: Changing trends of gallstone disease?

Conclusion: The age of occurrence of gallstone disease amongst black South African WLHIV was significantly lower and fewer women were obese compared with the uninfected women with gallstone disease. These findings differ from known gallstone risk factors in other populations and in uninfected black South African women. This could be attributed to the metabolic alterations caused by HIV infection itself and/or to the long-term use of ART. Larger cohort studies are required to elucidate the role of HIV and ART in cholestatic disease.
Source: Southern African Journal of HIV Medicine - Category: African Health Authors: Source Type: research