title: Absence of neurocognitive effect of hepatitis C infection in HIV-coinfected people.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To investigate the effect of hepatitis C virus (HCV) on neurocognitive performance in chronically HIV-infected patients enrolled in the CNS HIV Antiretroviral Therapy Effects Research (CHARTER) study.
  
  
  METHODS
  A total of 1,582 participants in CHARTER who were tested for HCV antibody underwent neurocognitive testing; serum HCV RNA was available for 346 seropositive patients. Neurocognitive performance was compared in 408 HCV-seropositive and 1,174 HCV-seronegative participants and in a subset of 160 seropositive and 707 seronegative participants without serious comorbid neurologic conditions that might impair neurocognitive performance, using linear regression and taking into account HIV-associated and demographic factors (including IV drug use) and liver function.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Neurocognitive performance characterized by global deficit scores and the proportion of individuals who were impaired were the same in the HCV-seropositive and HCV-seronegative groups. In univariable analyses in the entire sample, only verbal domain scores showed small statistically different superior performance in the HCV+ group that was not evident in multivariable analysis. In the subgroup without significant comorbidities, scores in all 7 domains of neurocognitive functioning did not differ by HCV serostatus. Among the HCV-seropositive participants, there was no association between neurocognitive performance and serum HCV RNA concentration.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  In HIV-infected patients, HCV coinfection does not contribute to neurocognitive impairment, at least in the absence of substantial HCV-associated liver damage, which was not evident in our cohort.
authors.affiliation: From Washington University (D.B.C.), St. Louis, MO; University of California (F.V., Y.-T.K., D.R.F., S.L.L., I.G., R.K.H.), San Diego; University of Washington (A.C.C., C.M.M.), Seattle; University of Texas at Galveston (B.B.G.); Johns Hopkins University (J.C.M.), Baltimore, MD; and The Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai (S.M., D.M.S.), New York, NY. cliffordd@wustl.edu.
authors.forename: David B
authors.initials: DB
authors.lastname: Clifford
authors.affiliation: From Washington University (D.B.C.), St. Louis, MO; University of California (F.V., Y.-T.K., D.R.F., S.L.L., I.G., R.K.H.), San Diego; University of Washington (A.C.C., C.M.M.), Seattle; University of Texas at Galveston (B.B.G.); Johns Hopkins University (J.C.M.), Baltimore, MD; and The Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai (S.M., D.M.S.), New York, NY.
authors.forename: Florin
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Vaida
authors.affiliation: From Washington University (D.B.C.), St. Louis, MO; University of California (F.V., Y.-T.K., D.R.F., S.L.L., I.G., R.K.H.), San Diego; University of Washington (A.C.C., C.M.M.), Seattle; University of Texas at Galveston (B.B.G.); Johns Hopkins University (J.C.M.), Baltimore, MD; and The Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai (S.M., D.M.S.), New York, NY.
authors.forename: Yu-Ting
authors.initials: YT
authors.lastname: Kao
authors.affiliation: From Washington University (D.B.C.), St. Louis, MO; University of California (F.V., Y.-T.K., D.R.F., S.L.L., I.G., R.K.H.), San Diego; University of Washington (A.C.C., C.M.M.), Seattle; University of Texas at Galveston (B.B.G.); Johns Hopkins University (J.C.M.), Baltimore, MD; and The Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai (S.M., D.M.S.), New York, NY.
authors.forename: Donald R
authors.initials: DR
authors.lastname: Franklin
authors.affiliation: From Washington University (D.B.C.), St. Louis, MO; University of California (F.V., Y.-T.K., D.R.F., S.L.L., I.G., R.K.H.), San Diego; University of Washington (A.C.C., C.M.M.), Seattle; University of Texas at Galveston (B.B.G.); Johns Hopkins University (J.C.M.), Baltimore, MD; and The Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai (S.M., D.M.S.), New York, NY.
authors.forename: Scott L
authors.initials: SL
authors.lastname: Letendre
authors.affiliation: From Washington University (D.B.C.), St. Louis, MO; University of California (F.V., Y.-T.K., D.R.F., S.L.L., I.G., R.K.H.), San Diego; University of Washington (A.C.C., C.M.M.), Seattle; University of Texas at Galveston (B.B.G.); Johns Hopkins University (J.C.M.), Baltimore, MD; and The Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai (S.M., D.M.S.), New York, NY.
authors.forename: Ann C
authors.initials: AC
authors.lastname: Collier
authors.affiliation: From Washington University (D.B.C.), St. Louis, MO; University of California (F.V., Y.-T.K., D.R.F., S.L.L., I.G., R.K.H.), San Diego; University of Washington (A.C.C., C.M.M.), Seattle; University of Texas at Galveston (B.B.G.); Johns Hopkins University (J.C.M.), Baltimore, MD; and The Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai (S.M., D.M.S.), New York, NY.
authors.forename: Christina M
authors.initials: CM
authors.lastname: Marra
authors.affiliation: From Washington University (D.B.C.), St. Louis, MO; University of California (F.V., Y.-T.K., D.R.F., S.L.L., I.G., R.K.H.), San Diego; University of Washington (A.C.C., C.M.M.), Seattle; University of Texas at Galveston (B.B.G.); Johns Hopkins University (J.C.M.), Baltimore, MD; and The Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai (S.M., D.M.S.), New York, NY.
authors.forename: Benjamin B
authors.initials: BB
authors.lastname: Gelman
authors.affiliation: From Washington University (D.B.C.), St. Louis, MO; University of California (F.V., Y.-T.K., D.R.F., S.L.L., I.G., R.K.H.), San Diego; University of Washington (A.C.C., C.M.M.), Seattle; University of Texas at Galveston (B.B.G.); Johns Hopkins University (J.C.M.), Baltimore, MD; and The Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai (S.M., D.M.S.), New York, NY.
authors.forename: Justin C
authors.initials: JC
authors.lastname: McArthur
authors.affiliation: From Washington University (D.B.C.), St. Louis, MO; University of California (F.V., Y.-T.K., D.R.F., S.L.L., I.G., R.K.H.), San Diego; University of Washington (A.C.C., C.M.M.), Seattle; University of Texas at Galveston (B.B.G.); Johns Hopkins University (J.C.M.), Baltimore, MD; and The Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai (S.M., D.M.S.), New York, NY.
authors.forename: Susan
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Morgello
authors.affiliation: From Washington University (D.B.C.), St. Louis, MO; University of California (F.V., Y.-T.K., D.R.F., S.L.L., I.G., R.K.H.), San Diego; University of Washington (A.C.C., C.M.M.), Seattle; University of Texas at Galveston (B.B.G.); Johns Hopkins University (J.C.M.), Baltimore, MD; and The Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai (S.M., D.M.S.), New York, NY.
authors.forename: David M
authors.initials: DM
authors.lastname: Simpson
authors.affiliation: From Washington University (D.B.C.), St. Louis, MO; University of California (F.V., Y.-T.K., D.R.F., S.L.L., I.G., R.K.H.), San Diego; University of Washington (A.C.C., C.M.M.), Seattle; University of Texas at Galveston (B.B.G.); Johns Hopkins University (J.C.M.), Baltimore, MD; and The Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai (S.M., D.M.S.), New York, NY.
authors.forename: Igor
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Grant
authors.affiliation: From Washington University (D.B.C.), St. Louis, MO; University of California (F.V., Y.-T.K., D.R.F., S.L.L., I.G., R.K.H.), San Diego; University of Washington (A.C.C., C.M.M.), Seattle; University of Texas at Galveston (B.B.G.); Johns Hopkins University (J.C.M.), Baltimore, MD; and The Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai (S.M., D.M.S.), New York, NY.
authors.forename: Robert K
authors.initials: RK
authors.lastname: Heaton
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D019380:Anti-HIV Agents / Q000627:therapeutic use; D015496:CD4-Positive T-Lymphocytes / Q000473:pathology; D003072:Cognition Disorders / Q000209:etiology*; D015331:Cohort Studies; D005260:Female; D006678:HIV / Q000235:genetics / Q000276:immunology / Q000472:pathogenicity; D015658:HIV Infections / Q000150:complications* / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000473:pathology; D016174:Hepacivirus / Q000235:genetics / Q000276:immunology / Q000472:pathogenicity; D006526:Hepatitis C / Q000150:complications* / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000473:pathology; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009483:Neuropsychological Tests; D012698:Serologic Tests; D014481:United States; D019562:Viral Load
chemical_list: D019380:Anti-HIV Agents