Spontaneous clearance of chronic hepatitis C is rare in HIV-infected patients after effective use of combination antiretroviral therapy

PLoS One. 2017 May 4;12(5):e0177141. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0177141. eCollection 2017.

Abstract

Objective: To evaluate the rate of spontaneous resolution of chronic hepatitis C (CHC) infection in a cohort of HIV-infected patients.

Methods: A retrospective analysis of 509 HIV-infected patients with chronic HCV infection was performed at two reference hospitals in Andalusia. The main variable of the study was spontaneous clearance of CHC, defined as a negative HCV RNA result after at least two previous quantitative measurements of HCV RNA separated by a minimum of 12 months.

Results: Of 509 patients, 3 (0.59%; 95% CI: 0.15%-1.6%) experienced spontaneous clearance of CHC. After combination antiretroviral therapy (cART) initiation, two of three cases experienced an increased CD4+ count, coinciding with HCV viral clearance. All patients were IL28B CC carriers, 2 were co-infected with HCV genotype 3 (the HCV genotype of the remaining patient was not available).

Conclusions: Spontaneous clearance of CHC is a rare event in the context of HIV/HCV co-infected patients and may be associated with the effective use of cART and thus HIV suppression.

Publication types

  • Case Reports

MeSH terms

  • Adult
  • Anti-HIV Agents / administration & dosage
  • Anti-HIV Agents / therapeutic use*
  • Female
  • HIV Infections / complications
  • HIV Infections / drug therapy*
  • Hepatitis C, Chronic / complications
  • Hepatitis C, Chronic / drug therapy*
  • Humans
  • Male
  • Remission Induction
  • Retrospective Studies
  • Young Adult

Substances

  • Anti-HIV Agents

Grants and funding

This work was supported by the SPANISH AIDS Research Network (RIS) RD16/0025/0034-ISCIII-FEDER, Fundación Progreso y Salud de la Junta de Andalucía (0187/2013), and Fundación para la Investigación en Salud del Instituto de Salud Carlos III (PI15/01017). A.R is the recipient of a Research Support grant from the Consejería de Salud de la Junta de Andalucía (A-0025-2016). The funders had no role in study design, data collection and analysis, decision to publish, or preparation of the manuscript.