The influence of hepatitis C virus-RNA levels and genotype on hepatitis C virus disease progression is not well studied.
The prognostic value of these markers was investigated in human immunodeficiency virus/hepatitis C virus co-infected individuals from the EuroSIDA cohort.
Dr Jurgen Rockstroh and colleagues from Germany undertook EuroSIDA as a prospective cohort of 18,295 HIV-1 infected patients in 105 centres across Europe, Israel, and Argentina.
All subjects with known hepatitis C virus antibody status were enrolled in the present study.
|Patients with detectable HCV-RNA had similar incidence of non-liver-related death|
|Journal of Hepatology|
The team noted that 4044 patients had detectable anti-hepatitis C antibody.
After adjustment, anti-hepatitis C virus antibody patients had an increased incidence of liver-related death compared to hepatitis C virus antibody− individuals.
Information on Hepatitis C virus-RNA was available for 2709 hepatitis C virus antibody positive patients, and 2010 were hepatitis C virus-RNA positive.
Of 1907 patients with measured hepatitis C genotype, 1008, 62 , 567 , and 270 were infected with genotype 1, 2, 3 and 4, respectively.
The research team observed that patients with detectable hepatitis C virus-RNA had similar incidence of non-liver-related death, but higher incidence of liver-related death compared to hepatitis C virus antibody positive aviremic patients, respectively.
In patients with hepatitis C virus viremia, hepatitis C virus-RNA levels and hepatitis C virus genotype did not influence the risk of non-liver-related death or liver-related death.
Dr Rockstroh's team concluded, "Hepatitis C virus seropositive human immunodeficiency virus patients had a 9-fold increased risk of liver related death compared to patients who were hepatitis C seronegative."
"Risk of death from any cause or liver related death was not influenced by level of hepatitis C virus viremia or hepatitis C virus genotype."