Do type and duration of antiretroviral therapy attenuate liver fibrosis in HIV-hepatitis C virus-coinfected patients?
Verma S; Wang CH; Govindarajan S; Kanel G; Squires K; Bonacini M Division of Gastrointestinal and Liver Diseases, University of Southern California, Los Angeles, CA 90033, USA. sumitaverma6@hotmail.com BACKGROUND: This study aimed to determine whether type and duration of therapy for human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) infection attenuates liver fibrosis in patients with HIV and hepatitis C virus (HCV) coinfection. METHODS: Patients with HCV monoinfection (group 1) and HIV-HCV coinfection were retrospectively selected; the latter patients were classified into the following 3 groups: group 2, patients who received no therapy or only nucleoside reverse-transcriptase inhibitors (NRTIs); group 3, those who received highly active antiretroviral therapy (HAART); and group 4, those who initially received NRTIs followed by HAART. Fibrosis stage (scale, 0-6) and necroinflammatory score (scale, 0-18) were assessed according to the Ishak system. Data are presented as mean +/- standard deviation. R
