Health & Biomedical Sciences Faculty Publications
Document Type
Article
Publication Date
2-2026
Abstract
Introduction: Human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) infection is associated with various comorbidities, including macrocytic anemia, though the role of the infection is unclear. HIV has been implicated in microbial translocation and altered immune responses. This study aimed to establish the relationship between gut microbial translocation and immune response, and macrocytic anemia among people with HIV (PWH).
Materials and methods: Fifty-five PWH on combination antiretroviral therapy (cART) were age-matched with 55 HIV-negative individuals. Demographic data and blood samples were collected from February to July 2023. Hematological indices, including red blood cell (RBC) count, hemoglobin concentration, and mean corpuscular volume (MCV), were measured. Serum lipopolysaccharides (LPS) and intrinsic factor autoantibodies (IFAA) were measured using ELISA.
Results: The prevalence of macrocytic anemia was significantly higher in the HIV cohort (43.6%) compared to HIV-negative individuals (1.8%), (p < 0.0001). PWH exhibited higher microbial translocation, characterized by elevated LPS levels (p < 0.0001). PWH with macrocytic anemia showed significantly increased serum LPS and IFAA levels compared to those without anemia (p < 0.001). Intrinsic factor autoantibodies correlated positively with systolic (r = 0.49, p < 0.001) and diastolic blood pressures (r = 0.31, p < 0.01), as well as LPS (r = 0.60, p < 0.001) and MCV (r = 0.65, p < 0.001).
Conclusion: This study reports for the first time elevated lipopolysaccharides and intrinsic factor autoantibodies among PWH, and the lipopolysaccharides and intrinsic factor autoantibodies strongly correlated with mean corpuscular volume in the patients. Targeting serum lipopolysaccharides and intrinsic factor autoantibodies may offer a novel therapeutic strategy.
Recommended Citation
Amakye, D., Hammond, S., Quaye, O., Roy, U., Puplampu, P., Ganu, V., & Tagoe, E. A. (2026). Elevated Serum Lipopolysaccharides and Intrinsic Factor Autoantibodies Correlate With Macrocytic Anemia Among People With HIV. Immunity, inflammation and disease, 14(2), e70378. https://doi.org/10.1002/iid3.70378Digital Object Identifier (DOI)
Publication Title
Immunity, Inflammation and Disease
DOI
10.1002/iid3.70378
Comments
© 2026 The Author(s). Immunity, Inflammation and Disease published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd.
This is an open access article under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits use, distribution and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.