Background Opportunistic infections (OI) of gastrointestinal (GI) and hepatobilliary system (HB) are common in HIV infected patients. Despite highly active antiretroviral therapy (HAART) GI OI have been reported in HIV infected patients. There is paucity of data from south Asia describing occurrence of GI and HB OI in AIDS with use of HAART.

Method Study population included 74 HIV infected patients (Male = 57, Female = 17) in the age group of 17 to 63 years admitted to a tertiary care referral centre in North India from January 2011 through December 2012. Only subjects who presented with GI and HB system manifestations were enrolled in the study. 74 study subjects were stratified into HAART naïve (36) and HAART experienced (38) groups according to their HAART status on admission. HIV infection was confirmed by western blot test. Gastrointestinal and hepatobilliary pathologies including OI were diagnosed and defined as per standard protocols.

Results In HAART experienced group 33% and in HAART naïve group 52% patients were diagnosed with OI. Esophageal candidiasis was present in 10% patients in HAART experienced group and in 7% patients in HAART naïve group (p value > 0.05). Abdominal Tuberculosis was present in 24% patients in HAART experienced group and in 33% patients in HAART naïve group (p value > 0.05). Drug induced liver injury was present in 10 patients in HAART experienced group and in 5 patients in HAART naïve group.

Conclusion In our study we conclude that Gastrointestinal and Hepatobiliary OI are equally common in patients taking HAART; especially esophageal candidiasis and abdominal tuberculosis, reasons for this include HAART resistance, drug noncompliance, immune restoration inflammatory syndrome (IRIS) and high prevalence of tuberculosis in this region.