Therapeutical aspects and outcome of HIV/HCV coinfected patients treated with pegylated interferon plus ribavirin in an Italian cohort

Background: One-third of HIV-infected individuals suffer from chronic hepatitis C virus infection (HCV) in Europe. Recommendations from HCV-HIV International Panel advise current treatment with pegylated interferon plus ribavirin. We assessed the impact of interferon and ribavirin combination in 43 patients between 2002 and 2006. Patients and Methods: All coinfected patients treated for HCV during the 5-year period were included in retrospective data collection. CD4+ T-lymphocyte count, HAART discontinuation, reasons for treatment interruption and factors correlated to sustained virological response (SVR) were monitored. Results: The mean age was 41 +/- 6.7 years; the risk factor for coinfection was intravenous drug abuse in 32/43 (74%). The baseline CD4+ T-lymphocytes cell count was > 500 in 51% (22/43). Genotype 3a represented 51% (22/43); 37% were on HAART at baseline (16/43) and half of patients showed high HCV RNA levels (> 800,000 IU/ml). High rates of treatment discontinuation were observed (27/43, 63%), caused by voluntary interruptions in 52% (14/27) and virological failure in 26% (7/27). The overall population had an SVR of 30%; genotypes 3a and 1 had SVR of 38% and 24%, respectively. The SVR was significantly tower in three groups: high HCV RNA viral load (chi(2) = 6, p < 0.0025), CD4+ T-lymphocyte historical < 350 cells/mm(3) (chi(2) = 3.26, p < 0.01) and genotype 1 nadir with high viral load (chi(2) 4.8, p < 0.005). Conclusions: Although factors such as HCV viral load rates and genotype 1 have been confirmed to threaten the response to therapy, we observed a significant response rate when patients had a history of CD4+ T-lymphocyte nadir > 350 per mm(3). The high dropout rates due to voluntary discontinuations complicated the patients' case management.