title: Risk factors for advanced liver fibrosis in HIV-infected individuals: role of antiretroviral drugs and insulin resistance.
abstract: Liver damage may result from multiple factors in HIV-infected patients. The availability of reliable noninvasive tools to measure liver fibrosis has permitted the screening of large patient populations. Cross-sectional study of all consecutive HIV outpatients who underwent examination by transient elastometry (FibroScan) at one HIV reference clinic during 2007. Advanced liver fibrosis (ALF) was defined as hepatic stiffness >9.5 kilopascals, which corresponds to Metavir stages F3-F4 in the liver biopsy. A total of 681 consecutive HIV-infected patients (64% injecting drug users; mean age 43; 78% male; 98% on antiretroviral therapy) had at least one valid FibroScan evaluation. ALF was diagnosed in 215 (32%) of them. In the univariate analysis, ALF was significantly associated with older age, low CD4 counts, chronic hepatitis C, past alcohol abuse, elevated ALT, high triglycerides, low cholesterol, high homeostasis model assessment (HOMA) index and exposure to didanosine and/or stavudine. In a multivariate model (OR, 95% CI), chronic hepatitis C (2.83, 1.57-5.08), past alcohol abuse (2.26, 1.37-3.74), exposure to didanosine and/or stavudine (1.85, 1.14-3.01), high HOMA index (1.25, 1.04-1.51), older age (1.09, 1.05-1.14) and elevated ALT (1.04, 1.03-1.06) remained as independently associated with ALF. Therefore, in addition to chronic hepatitis C and alcohol abuse, insulin resistance and/or exposure to dideoxy-nucleosides may contribute to ALF in HIV-infected patients.
authors.affiliation: Department of Infectious Diseases, Hospital Carlos III, Madrid, Spain.
authors.forename: F
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Blanco
authors.forename: P
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Barreiro
authors.forename: P
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Ryan
authors.forename: E
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Vispo
authors.forename: L
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Martín-Carbonero
authors.forename: P
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Tuma
authors.forename: P
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Labarga
authors.forename: J
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Medrano
authors.forename: J
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: González-Lahoz
authors.forename: V
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Soriano
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D019380:Anti-HIV Agents / Q000009:adverse effects* / Q000627:therapeutic use; D000998:Antiviral Agents / Q000627:therapeutic use; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D016049:Didanosine / Q000009:adverse effects / Q000627:therapeutic use; D005260:Female; D015658:HIV Infections / Q000150:complications* / Q000188:drug therapy; D016174:Hepacivirus / Q000187:drug effects; D019698:Hepatitis C, Chronic / Q000150:complications* / Q000188:drug therapy; D006801:Humans; D007333:Insulin Resistance; D008103:Liver Cirrhosis / Q000209:etiology* / Q000473:pathology; D008297:Male; D018894:Reverse Transcriptase Inhibitors / Q000009:adverse effects* / Q000627:therapeutic use; D012307:Risk Factors; D018119:Stavudine / Q000009:adverse effects / Q000627:therapeutic use
chemical_list: D019380:Anti-HIV Agents; D000998:Antiviral Agents; D018894:Reverse Transcriptase Inhibitors; D018119:Stavudine; D016049:Didanosine