title: SEN virus has an adverse effect on the survival of HIV-positive patients.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Patients infected with HIV are often coinfected with other viruses.
  
  
  OBJECTIVE
  To investigate the effect of SEN virus (SENV) strains D and H on mortality in HIV-positive patients.
  
  
  METHODS
  A total of 217 HIV-positive patients were analysed retrospectively after first presentation and blood sampling (January 1997 to July 1997) and the effect of coinfection with SENV-D and SENV-H on survival was examined. Analysis periods were the time from blood sampling to the end of follow-up, and the time from diagnosis of HIV infection to the end of study follow-up. SENV-H DNA was measured quantitatively. Prevalences of SENV-D and SENV-H were compared with those in 112 healthy blood donors.
  
  
  RESULTS
  SENV prevalence was significantly higher in HIV-positive patients than in controls (56/217 and 12/112, respectively; P < 0.001). SENV positivity had no influence on survival, but a significant negative influence of SENV-H on survival was observed when SENV-H DNA was > 530 copies/ml, which was the mean SENV-H DNA level found in HIV-negative controls. This adverse effect was found for both studied time periods in a Kaplan-Meier analyses. A multivariate Cox regression analysis, including CD4 cell count, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention stage, age, sex, HIV RNA, highly active antiretroviral therapy and hepatitis C virus status, revealed that a high SENV DNA level was an independent risk factor or indicator for adverse disease outcome.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  SENV infection is common in HIV-positive patients. High SENV-H DNA levels were predictive for poor survival in HIV-positive patients.
authors.affiliation: Clinic for Gastroenterology, Hepatology and Infections bInstitute of Virology, University of Düsseldorf, Düsseldorf, Germany. sagir@med.uni-duesseldorf.de
authors.forename: Abdurrahman
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Sagir
authors.forename: Ortwin
authors.initials: O
authors.lastname: Adams
authors.forename: Mehmet
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Antakyali
authors.forename: Mark
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Oette
authors.forename: Andreas
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Erhardt
authors.forename: Tobias
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Heintges
authors.forename: Dieter
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Häussinger
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D004266:DNA Virus Infections / Q000150:complications* / Q000401:mortality; D005260:Female; D006679:HIV Seropositivity / Q000150:complications / Q000401:mortality; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D015995:Prevalence; D012044:Regression Analysis; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D016019:Survival Analysis; D022783:Torque teno virus