Patients who suffer from both Hepatitis C and HIV are at a higher risk of developing other liver diseases - particularly decompensated cirrhosis of the liver - despite positive responses to antiretroviral treatments that bolster the immune systems of HIV sufferers. The study, conducted by researchers from the University of Pennsylvania, looked at 6,079 patients with Hepatitis C and an addition 4,280 patients with both Hepatitis C and HIV, all receiving treatment in the 1997 to 2010 time frame.
Published in the Annals of Internal Medicine, the study, titled Hepatic Decompensation in Antiretroviral-Treated Patients Co-Infected With HIV and Hepatitis C Virus Compared With Hepatitis C Virus-Monoinfected Patients: A Cohort Study, found that positive prognosis in patients with both diseases provided no impediment to the enhanced risk of liver disease, which overall stands at around 80 percent higher than the risk afforded to those with just Hepatitis C. HIV patients with a positive response to the antiretroviral drugs witnessed a reduction in that risk by around 20 percent, though the figures remain substantially higher than those attributed to Hep C-only patients.
Similarly, liver disease is more likely to strike Hep C/HIV patients who have a history of liver fibrosis, diabetes, and anemia, with early treatment for Hepatitis C so far the best course of action to eliminate the risk. The study's authors did note certain limitations and deviations, however; with the test subjects predominately being male and a higher incidence of liver disease found amongst non-black patients. The data nevertheless presents key information in treating co-infected patients, targeting Hepatitis C to reduce patient's vulnerability to liver disease. An estimated 20 - 30 percent of HIV patients are co-infected, likely the result of shared catalysts of the disease.
"Our results suggest that serious consideration should be given to initiating hepatitis C treatment in patients co-infected with HIV and hepatitis C - particularly among those with advanced liver fibrosis or cirrhosis - in order to try to reduce the risk of serious, potentially life-threatening liver complications," said the study's lead author Dr. Vincent Lo Re III in a press release. He continued: "By taking action sooner, we may be able to reduce the risk of advanced liver disease in co-infected patients."
