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Results of a study of patients with
hepatitis C virus (HCV)/HIV coinfection indicated that therapy with interferon
and ribavirin provided clinical benefit even in those who relapsed after
treatment. The researchers evaluated 1,599 patients from the Spanish HIV/AIDS
study GESIDA 3603, which included patients coinfected with HCV and HIV who were
treated with interferon and ribavirin at 19 Spanish medical centers.
At 24 weeks posttreatment, 584
patients had sustained virologic response (SVR), while 765 had no response and
250 relapsed after the end of treatment. There were associations between SVR
and having received pegylated interferon, low HCV RNA levels, lack of advanced
fibrosis, daily alcohol intake below 50 grams, and HCV genotype 2 or 3.
Patients with SVR had lower overall liver-related, AIDS-related, and
non-AIDS/nonliver-related mortality rates compared with the other groups. Those
who relapsed had lower overall and liver-related mortality rates than
nonresponders. Risk for liver-related events (decompensation, liver cancer,
liver transplant, and liver-related death) was lowest in the SVR group and
lower among relapsers than nonresponders. Also, patients who experienced SVR
had less liver stiffness than the other groups and relapsers had less liver
stiffness than nonresponders.
According to researcher Juan
Berenguer, MD, from the infectious disease and HIV unit at Hospital General
Universitario Gregorio Marañón in Madrid, findings suggested that for patients
with HCV/HIV coinfection, viral relapse after HCV treatment provided some
clinical benefits.
The full report, “Clinical Effects
of Viral Relapse After Interferon Plus Ribavirin in Patients Co-infected with
Human Immunodeficiency Virus and Hepatitis C Virus,” was published in the
Journal of Hepatology (2013; 58 (6): 1104–1112).
The Friends of AIDS Foundation is
dedicated to enhancing the quality of life for HIV positive individuals and
empowering people to make healthy choices to prevent the spread of the HIV
virus. To learn more about The Friends of AIDS Foundation, please visit: http://www.friendsofaids.org.
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