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Alcohol consumption increased risk for liver fibrosis in patients with HIV, HCV
Consuming any amount of alcohol may negatively impact a person infected with HIV or hepatitis C virus by increasing their risk for liver fibrosis, according to data from a new study.
Researchers conducted a cross-sectional study of patients in the Veterans Aging Cohort Study who reported alcohol consumption upon enrollment. There were 3,565 patients who were current drinkers in the final study sample (701 were hepatitis C virus (HCV)/HIV coinfected; 1,410 were HIV infected; 296 were HCV infected; and 1,158 were HIV/HCV uninfected).
In the cohort, 41.5% of patients were considered nonhazardous drinkers; 34.6%, hazardous or binge drinkers; and 24% met an alcohol-related diagnosis, based on the Alcohol Use Disorders Identification Test-Consumption (AUDIT-C) questionnaire. Advanced hepatic fibrosis was defined by a FIB-4 index of more than 3.25.
As alcohol use increased, advanced hepatic fibrosis increased among all HIV/HCV coinfected patients. Researchers observed associations between HIV/HCV-coinfected patients and advanced hepatic fibrosis among nonhazardous drinkers (OR=14.2; 95% CI, 5.91-34), compared with uninfected nonhazardous drinkers.
Advanced hepatic fibrosis also was more common among HIV-infected patients, compared with uninfected patients (6.7% vs. 1.4% among nonhazardous; 9.5% vs. 3% among hazardous or binge drinking; 19% vs. 8.6% in alcohol-related diagnosed patients). It also was more frequent among chronic HCV-infected patients compared with uninfected patients (13.6% vs. 2.5% in nonhazardous; 18.2% vs. 3.1%, hazardous/binge; 22.1% vs. 6.5%, alcohol-related diagnosis; P<.01 for all).
Vincent Lo Re III
“We’ve shown a much greater risk for coinfected compared to uninfected persons at all levels of alcohol consumption — from nonhazardous drinking up to hazardous/binge drinking and abuse/dependence,” one of the researchers, Vincent Lo Re III, MD, MSCE, assistant professor of medicine and epidemiology, University of Pennsylvania, and infectious disease physician at the Veterans Affairs Medical Center, Philadelphia, said in a press release. “This highlights how important it is for clinicians to be counseling coinfected patients on reducing alcohol consumption.”
Disclosure: See the study for a full list of relevant financial disclosures.