Top HCV/HIV stories for World AIDS Day

Dec. 1 is World AIDS Day, an event held annually to raise awareness of the global HIV/AIDS epidemic. Among all people with HIV in the United States, about 25% are coinfected with hepatitis C virus and another 10% are coinfected with hepatitis B virus, according to the CDC. Approximately 75% of people with HIV also have HCV attributable to past injection drug use — HCV/HIV coinfection more than triples the risk for liver disease, liver failure and liver-related mortality. To mark the occasion of World AIDS Day, Healio.com/Hepatology compiled a list of relevant HCV/HIV coinfection research published online:

8-week Harvoni safe, effective in patients coinfected with HIV/HCV

Researchers from Germany found that 8 weeks of Harvoni was safe and effective in patients coinfected with HIV and HCV. Patrick Ingiliz, MD, from the Center for Infectiology, Berlin, and colleagues, found the SVR rate 12 weeks after treatment was 93.5% and the on-treatment response rate was 99.4% in monoinfected patients and 96.4% in coinfected patients. Read more

Antiretroviral use shows no reduction in ESLD incidence

Despite increasing use of antiretrovirals, no reduction in end-stage liver disease risk was observed among patients coinfected with HIV and viral hepatitis during a 15-year period, according to an analysis of data from The North American AIDS Cohort Collaboration on Research and Design. Read more

Epclusa shows manageable drug interaction profile with antiretrovirals

“Overall, [Epclusa, Gilead Sciences] did not have clinically relevant drug interactions with the majority of antiretroviral regimens evaluated,” Annie Luetkemeyer, MD, associate professor at University of California San Francisco School of Medicine, told Healio.com/Hepatology. Read more

HCV/HIV coinfection contributes to mortality of patients awaiting LT

Research published in Liver Transplantation suggests coinfection with hepatitis C and HIV plays a role in death before liver transplantation, resulting in higher death rates on the waiting list.

“Our study indicates that, in addition to being a risk factor after transplantation, HCV/HIV coinfection is also a factor for mortality prior to transplantation and associated with higher mortality on the waiting list,” Juan J. Araiz, MD, professor of transplant procurement management, Universidad Zaragoza, Spain, and researchers wrote. Read more

Transient elastography accurately predicts liver-related events in HIV/HCV–coinfected patients

Patients coinfected with HIV and hepatitis C virus with a liver stiffness value of less than 12 kPa had a 98% chance of not developing liver-related events.

“[We] show that TE is an excellent tool for stratifying the risk of liver-related outcomes in HIV/HCV–coinfected patients and suggest that those with a liver stiffness below the 12 kPa cutoff could be followed up less closely than patients with higher liver stiffness values,” researchers wrote. Read more

Telaprevir-based therapy did not increase SVR in HCV/HIV coinfection

Men who have sex with men presenting with hepatitis C genotype 1 infection and HIV-1 coinfection did not experience increased rates of sustained virologic response after treatment with telaprevir plus pegylated interferon and ribavirin vs. those assigned therapy with pegylated interferon and ribavirin alone, according to data from a pilot study presented at AIDS 2016. Read more