Assessment of the state of autonomic dysfunction in patients with tuberculosis of the respiratory system and in combination with HIV infection in modern conditions
Authors: Brazhenko O. N. , Loschakova A. I. 
Published: January 2024

The autonomic nervous system (ANS) is an important part of the human nervous system responsible for regulating internal organs and maintaining the internal environment of the body. Adequate functioning of the ANS supports homeostasis is the internal stability of the body and regulates many functions in it, such as cardiac activity, breathing, etc. TB-related stress and inflammation affect have influence at the balance of sympathetic and parasympathetic activity. Affecting the work of the peripheral nervous system, it becomes possible to influence at the system of homeostasis of the body through its regulatory systems. Improving the diagnostics of autonomic dysfunction and identifying its dysfunction will provide an integrated individualized approach to treatment and will make a significant contribution to increasing the effectiveness of therapy for patients with tuberculosis.

Aim. Diagnosis of the state of the autonomic nervous system by its main indicators using available informative methods for assessing its functional state in patients with respiratory tuberculosis, including in combination with HIV infection at the beginning of treatment and detecting the level of its damage for further correction with the prescription of pathogenetic therapy.

Materials and methods. The functional state of the autonomic nervous system has been investigated in 260 people. In the study, 2 groups were formed: a control group (CG) of 70 healthy persons and a monitoring group (MG) of 190 newly diagnosed patients with tuberculosis. There are 3 subgroups in MG. The 1 subgroup included 65 patients with pulmonary tuberculosis, in whom the function of ANS was studied by conventional examination methods, and in 64 patients with tuberculosis 2 subgroups and 61 patients with tuberculosis in combination with HIV infection 3 subgroups using Varikard 2.51. Calculations were carried out in the program SPSS Statistics v. 23.

Results and discussion. Comparison of the frequency of autonomic dysfunction in patients with MG, subgroup 1 with that in the CG according to questionnaires No. 1 (χ2=36.346; p<0.001) and No. 2 (χ2=50.885; p<0.001), HR per minute (χ2=31.989; p<0.001), Kerdo index (χ2=30.008; p<0.001), cold sample (χ2=36.549; p<0.001) revealed high reliability of differences and indicated the predominance of sympathicotension, which was determined 7 times more often in patients. At the beginning of treatment, in patients with concomitant HIV infection was detected a more pronounced dysfunction of ANS with a predominance of its sympathetic link, which was found 9.3 times more often than in healthy persons and 2.3 times more often than in patients without HIV infection. Comparing the frequency of PARS in the «normal zone» in the CG and in the 2 subgroup of MG (t1=5.01; p1<0,001; t2=3,69; p2>0.001), in CG and in MG subgroup 3 (t1=3.61; p1<0.001; t2=3.61; p2<0.001) high significant differences were identified, indicating a significant predominance of regulatory process disorders in patients with tuberculosis and especially when combined with HIV infection.

Conclusion. The revealed disorders in the work of ANS patients with tuberculosis and in combination with HIV infection are associated with intoxication and asthenovegetative syndrome. Monitoring of heart rate variability can be used in medical research, as well as in clinical practice to assess the state of the autonomic nervous system in patients with tuberculosis and when combined with HIV infection, determine the application point for the effects of pathogenetic therapy in order to improve the results and effectiveness of the treatment.