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About 40% of patients infected with human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) are coinfected with hepatitis C virus (HCV), mainly because both viruses share the same routes of transmission. It has been demonstrated by several studies that HIV infection causes a more rapid progression of chronic hepatitis C to cirrhosis and liver failure.^1-2 In agreement with that, increased degrees of hepatitis C viremia have been observed in coinfected patients.^{1, 3} Among the mechanisms potentially implicated, interaction between the viruses and the immunosuppressive state induced by HIV infection have been suggested.^3-4

Although the influence of HIV infection on liver disease caused by hepatitis viruses seems clear, the opposite, ie, the influence of infection by hepatitis viruses on HIV infection, is more controversial.^5-9 To address this point, we have compared the HIV plasma viral load of antiretrovirally naive HIV-infected patients with and without serological evidence of infection by hepatitis viruses.

While 204 HIV-infected patients were . . . [Full Text of this Article]

Eugenia Negredo, MD; Pere Domingo, MD, PhD; M. Antonia Sambeat, MD; Nuria Rabella, MD; Guillermo Vázquez, MD, PhD
Barcelona, Spain