title: Effect of abacavir on sustained virologic response to HCV treatment in HIV/HCV co-infected patients, Cohere in Eurocoord.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Contradicting results on the effect of abacavir (ABC) on hepatitis C virus (HCV) treatment responses in HIV/HCV co-infected patients have been reported. We evaluated the influence of ABC on the response to pegylated interferon (pegIFN) and ribavirin (RBV)-containing HCV treatment in HIV/HCV co-infected patients in a large European cohort collaboration, including data from different European countries.
  
  
  METHODS
  HIV/HCV co-infected patients were included if they were aged ≥16 years, received pegIFN alfa-2a or 2b and RBV combination treatment and were enrolled in the COHERE cohort collaboration. Logistic regression was used to evaluate the impact of abacavir on achieving a sustained virologic response (SVR) to HCV treatment.
  
  
  RESULTS
  In total 1309 HIV/HCV co-infected patients who had received HCV therapy were included, of whom 490 (37 %) had achieved an SVR. No statistically significant difference was seen for patients using ABC-containing regimens compared to patients using an emtricitabine + tenofovir (FTC + TDF)-containing backbone, which was the most frequently used backbone. In the multivariate analyses, patients using a protease inhibitor (PI)-boosted regimen were less likely to achieve an SVR compared to patients using a non-nucleoside reverse-transcriptase inhibitor (NNRTI)-based regimen (OR: 0.61, 95 % CI: 0.41-0.91). The backbone combinations zidovudine&lamivudine (AZT + 3TC) and stavudine&lamivudine (d4t + 3TC) were associated with lower SRV rates (0.45 (0.24-0.82) and 0.46 (0.22-0.96), respectively).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  The results of this large European cohort study validate that SVR rates are generally not affected by ABC. Use of d4T or AZT as part of the HIV treatment regimen was associated with a lower likelihood of achieving an SVR.
authors.affiliation: Stichting HIV Monitoring, Meibergdreef 9, 1105AZ, Amsterdam, The Netherlands. Colette.smit@amc.uva.nl.
authors.forename: Colette
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Smit
authors.affiliation: Stichting HIV Monitoring, Meibergdreef 9, 1105AZ, Amsterdam, The Netherlands. J.E.Arends@umcutrecht.nl.
authors.forename: Joop
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Arends
authors.affiliation: Stichting HIV Monitoring, Meibergdreef 9, 1105AZ, Amsterdam, The Netherlands. lpe@cphiv.dk.
authors.forename: Lars
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Peters
authors.affiliation: Stichting HIV Monitoring, Meibergdreef 9, 1105AZ, Amsterdam, The Netherlands. antonella.darminio@unimi.it.
authors.forename: Antonella d'Arminio
authors.initials: Ad
authors.lastname: Montforte
authors.affiliation: Stichting HIV Monitoring, Meibergdreef 9, 1105AZ, Amsterdam, The Netherlands. francois.dabis@isped.u-bordeaux2.fr.
authors.forename: Francois
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Dabis
authors.affiliation: Stichting HIV Monitoring, Meibergdreef 9, 1105AZ, Amsterdam, The Netherlands. robert.zangerle@tirol-kliniken.at.
authors.forename: Robert
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Zangerle
authors.affiliation: Stichting HIV Monitoring, Meibergdreef 9, 1105AZ, Amsterdam, The Netherlands. gdaikos@med.uoa.gr.
authors.forename: George
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Daikos
authors.affiliation: Stichting HIV Monitoring, Meibergdreef 9, 1105AZ, Amsterdam, The Netherlands. cristina.mussini@unimore.it.
authors.forename: Christina
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Mussini
authors.affiliation: Stichting HIV Monitoring, Meibergdreef 9, 1105AZ, Amsterdam, The Netherlands. mallolas@clinic.ub.es.
authors.forename: Josep
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Mallolas
authors.affiliation: Stichting HIV Monitoring, Meibergdreef 9, 1105AZ, Amsterdam, The Netherlands. stephane_dewit@stpierre-bru.be.
authors.forename: Stephane
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: de Wit
authors.affiliation: Stichting HIV Monitoring, Meibergdreef 9, 1105AZ, Amsterdam, The Netherlands. Annelies.Zinkernagel@gmx.net.
authors.forename: Annelies
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Zinkernagel
authors.affiliation: Stichting HIV Monitoring, Meibergdreef 9, 1105AZ, Amsterdam, The Netherlands. jaimecosin@gmail.com.
authors.forename: Jaime
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Cosin
authors.affiliation: Stichting HIV Monitoring, Meibergdreef 9, 1105AZ, Amsterdam, The Netherlands. Genevieve.chene@isped.u-bordeaux2.fr.
authors.forename: Genevieve
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Chene
authors.affiliation: Stichting HIV Monitoring, Meibergdreef 9, 1105AZ, Amsterdam, The Netherlands. dra@cphiv.dk.
authors.forename: Dorthe
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Raben
authors.affiliation: Stichting HIV Monitoring, Meibergdreef 9, 1105AZ, Amsterdam, The Netherlands. Juergen.Rockstroh@ukb.uni-bonn.de.
authors.forename: Jürgen
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Rockstroh
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D019380:Anti-HIV Agents / Q000627:therapeutic use; D015331:Cohort Studies; D060085:Coinfection / Q000188:drug therapy; D015224:Dideoxynucleosides / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D004338:Drug Combinations; D000068679:Emtricitabine / Q000627:therapeutic use; D005060:Europe; D005260:Female; D015658:HIV Infections / Q000188:drug therapy*; D016174:Hepacivirus / Q000187:drug effects / Q000235:genetics; D006526:Hepatitis C / Q000188:drug therapy*; D006801:Humans; D016898:Interferon-alpha / Q000627:therapeutic use; D019259:Lamivudine / Q000627:therapeutic use; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D011092:Polyethylene Glycols / Q000627:therapeutic use; D011994:Recombinant Proteins / Q000627:therapeutic use; D018894:Reverse Transcriptase Inhibitors / Q000627:therapeutic use; D012254:Ribavirin / Q000627:therapeutic use; D000068698:Tenofovir / Q000627:therapeutic use; D015215:Zidovudine / Q000627:therapeutic use; D000099227:Abacavir
chemical_list: D019380:Anti-HIV Agents; D015224:Dideoxynucleosides; D004338:Drug Combinations; D000068679:Emtricitabine; D016898:Interferon-alpha; D019259:Lamivudine; D011092:Polyethylene Glycols; D011994:Recombinant Proteins; D018894:Reverse Transcriptase Inhibitors; D012254:Ribavirin; D000068698:Tenofovir; D015215:Zidovudine; D000099227:Abacavir; C109078:lamivudine, zidovudine drug combination; C100416:peginterferon alfa-2a