title: Fibrosis Progression in Paired Liver Biopsies from HIV/HCV-Coinfected Patients without Prior Treatment of Hepatitis C.
abstract: Several studies have demonstrated that HIV/hepatitis C virus (HCV)-coinfected patients experience more rapid fibrosis progression. In this study, to estimate the annual rate of direct liver fibrosis progression, we used analyses of paired biopsy samples from HIV/HCV-coinfected patients without prior treatment of hepatitis and assessed the possible association of fibrosis progression with certain clinical variables. We evaluated 30 HIV/HCV-coinfected patients, with no history of prior treatment of hepatitis C, who underwent paired liver biopsies. All patients were under antiretroviral therapy at first and second biopsies. The average annual progression rate was 0.13 fibrosis unit/year, with 36.7% of patients defined as progressors. Liver fibrosis progression was associated with alanine aminotransferase (ALT; P < .001) and aspartate aminotransferase (AST; P < .0340) levels over 3 times the upper limit of normal present at first biopsy. Elevated ALT and AST levels appear to be associated with more accelerated liver fibrosis progression among HIV/HCV-coinfected patients.
authors.affiliation: Departamento de Doenças infecciosas e Parasitárias, Faculdade de Medicina da Universidade de São Paulo, São Paulo, Brasil agbleite@usp.br.
authors.forename: Andréa G B
authors.initials: AG
authors.lastname: Leite
authors.affiliation: Departamento de Patologia, Faculdade de Medicina, Universidade de São Paulo, São Paulo, Brasil.
authors.forename: Maria Irma S
authors.initials: MI
authors.lastname: Duarte
authors.affiliation: Departamento de Doenças infecciosas e Parasitárias, Faculdade de Medicina da Universidade de São Paulo, São Paulo, Brasil.
authors.forename: Maria Cássia
authors.initials: MC
authors.lastname: Mendes-Correa
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000410:Alanine Transaminase / Q000097:blood; D001219:Aspartate Aminotransferases / Q000097:blood; D001706:Biopsy; D060085:Coinfection; D018450:Disease Progression; D005260:Female; D015658:HIV Infections / Q000201:enzymology / Q000473:pathology* / Q000821:virology; D006526:Hepatitis C / Q000201:enzymology / Q000473:pathology* / Q000821:virology; D006801:Humans; D008099:Liver / Q000473:pathology; D008103:Liver Cirrhosis / Q000201:enzymology / Q000473:pathology* / Q000821:virology*; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged
chemical_list: D001219:Aspartate Aminotransferases; D000410:Alanine Transaminase
keywords: HIV coinfection; alanine aminotransferase; aspartate aminotransferase; hepatitis C virus; liver fibrosis