Association between plasma levels of eotaxin (CCL-11) and treatment response to interferon-alpha and ribavirin in HIV/HCV co-infected patients.
OBJECTIVE
To analyse the association between plasma chemokine levels at baseline and virological response to interferon-alpha (IFN-alpha) + ribavirin in human immunodeficiency virus (HIV)/hepatitis C virus (HCV) co-infected patients.


METHODS
We carried out a retrospective study in 109 patients. Chemokines were measured using Multiplex kits using a Luminex 100 Analyzer. Logistic regression was used to evaluate the association between plasma chemokine levels before HCV therapy and virological response at weeks 48 and 72 after starting HCV therapy.


RESULTS
Fifty-seven patients out of 103 achieved end of treatment virological response (ETR). In patients achieving ETR, the baseline levels of eotaxin, MCP-1 and MCP-3 were higher than non-responder (NR) patients. Similarly, 51 patients out of 106 achieved sustained virological response (SVR). In patients achieving SVR, the baseline levels of eotaxin and MCP-1 were higher than in NR patients. Plasma levels of eotaxin, MCP-1 and MCP-3 had a significant positive association with ETR, as well as eotaxin and MCP-1 with SVR. However, after stepwise multivariate logistic regression, eotaxin was the only chemokine selected capable of predicting ETR and SVR with odds ratio (OR) of 1.016 (95% CI: 1.004-1.029) and 1.015 (95% CI: 1.002-1.027) for ETR and SVR, respectively.


CONCLUSIONS
Our preliminary data suggest that plasma eotaxin levels prior to HCV antiviral therapy may be useful in predicting virological response to HCV treatment with IFN-alpha + ribavirin in HIV/HCV co-infected patients. Further experimental research is necessary to corroborate this hypothesis.
Vargas
Ana
A
Laboratory of Molecular Epidemiology of Infectious Diseases, National Centre of Microbiology, Instituto de Salud Carlos III, Majadahonda, Madrid, Spain.
Berenguer
Juan
J
Catalán
Pilar
P
Miralles
Pilar
P
López
Juan Carlos
JC
Cosín
Jaime
J
Resino
Salvador
S
D000328:Adult; D000998:Antiviral Agents / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D054413:Chemokine CCL11 / Q000097:blood*; D005260:Female; D015658:HIV Infections / Q000150:complications / Q000188:drug therapy*; D019698:Hepatitis C, Chronic / Q000150:complications / Q000188:drug therapy*; D006801:Humans; D016898:Interferon-alpha / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D008297:Male; D010949:Plasma / Q000737:chemistry*; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D012254:Ribavirin / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D016896:Treatment Outcome
D000998:Antiviral Agents; C515456:CCL11 protein, human; D054413:Chemokine CCL11; D016898:Interferon-alpha; D012254:Ribavirin