Table 1.
Baseline characteristics of the whole cohort (n = 1183) by liver fibrosis progression status.
| Total cohort (n = 1183) | Liver fibrosis progression (n = 121) | No liver fibrosis progression (n = 1062) | P | |
| Demographic and anthropometric characteristics | ||||
| Age (years) | 52.9 (46.3–58.2) | 51.7 (44.6–58.8) | 53.0 (46.6–58.2) | 0.77 |
| Male sex (%) | 917 (77.5) | 101 (83.5) | 816 (76.8) | 0.10 |
| Ethnicity (n = 1148, n = 117 and n = 1031, respectively) (%) | ||||
| White | 1021 (88.9) | 102 (87.2) | 919 (89.1) | 0.82 |
| Black | 76 (6.6) | 9 (7.7) | 67 (6.5) | |
| Other | 51 (4.4) | 6 (5.1) | 45 (4.4) | |
| BMI (n = 1081, n = 105 and n = 976, respectively) (kg/m2) | 24.2 (22–26.5) | 26.0 (23.2–29.0) | 24.1 (21.9–26.2) | <0.001 |
| BMI categories (n = 1081, n = 105 and n = 976, respectively) (%) | ||||
| Under/normal weight | 644 (59.6) | 39 (37.1) | 605 (62.0) | <0.001 |
| Overweight | 351 (32.5) | 47 (44.8) | 304 (31.1) | |
| Obesity | 86 (8.0) | 19 (18.1) | 67 (6.9) | |
| HIV-related variables | ||||
| CD4 (cell/μl) | 623.5 (450.2–817.5) | 601 (384–798) | 626 (457–818) | 0.45 |
| Nadir CD4+ (cell/μl) | 200 (96–311) | 176 (95–305) | 200 (96–311) | 0.65 |
| Time since HIV diagnosis (years) | 18.0 (9–26.9) | 15 (8.0–25.2) | 18.4 (9.1–27.0) | 0.04 |
| Undetectable HIV viral load (n = 717, n = 95 and n = 622, respectively) (≤50 copies) (%) | 614 (85.6) | 75 (78.9) | 539 (86.7) | 0.05 |
| Current ART | ||||
| NNRTI (%) | 344 (29.1) | 30 (24.8) | 314 (29.6) | 0.27 |
| NRTI (%) | 910 (76.9) | 92 (76.0) | 818 (77.0) | 0.81 |
| PI (%) | 384 (32.5) | 45 (37.2) | 339 (31.9) | 0.24 |
| INSTI (%) | 528 (44.6) | 48 (39.7) | 480 (45.2) | 0.25 |
| TAF (%) | 191 (16.1) | 16 (13.2) | 175 (16.5) | 0.36 |
| Past exposure to d-drugs (%) | 160 (13.5) | 14 (11.6) | 146 (13.7) | 0.51 |
| Biochemical parameters | ||||
| Platelets (109/l) | 206.0 (171–244) | 203.5 (165.2, 238.8) | 206.0 (172.0, 244.0) | 0.46 |
| Albumin (g/l) | 45.0 (42.9–47) | 43.5 (41.6, 46.7) | 45.0 (43.0, 47.0) | 0.03 |
| ALT (IU/l) | 26.0 (19.0, 37.0) | 36.0 (25.0, 49.0) | 25.0 (18.0, 35.0) | <0.001 |
| AST (IU/l) | 24.0 (19–29) | 27.0 (22.0, 41.0) | 23.0 (19.0, 29.0) | <0.001 |
| Total cholesterol (mmol/l) | 4.7 (4–5.4) | 4.6 (3.8, 5.4) | 4.7 (4.0, 5.4) | 0.41 |
| HDL cholesterol (mmol/l) | 1.2 (1–1.5) | 1.1 (1.0, 1.3) | 1.2 (1.0, 1.5) | <0.001 |
| Triglycerides (mmol/l) | 1.4 (1–2.1) | 1.7 (1.3, 2.8) | 1.3 (0.9, 2.0) | <0.001 |
| Comorbidities | ||||
| Hypertension (n = 808, n = 102 and n = 706, respectively) (%) | 407 (50.4) | 45 (44.1) | 362 (51.3) | 0.17 |
| Type 2 diabetes (n = 619, n = 90 and n = 530, respectively) (%) | 169 (27.3) | 21 (23.3) | 148 (27.9) | 0.37 |
| Cardiovascular disease (n = 529, n = 85 and n = 445, respectively) (%) | 63 (11.9) | 14 (16.5) | 49 (11.0) | 0.15 |
| Liver-related variables | ||||
| HBV coinfection (%) | 42 (3.6) | 10 (8.3) | 32 (3.0) | 0.003 |
| HCV coinfection (%) | 255 (21.6) | 32 (24.8) | 225 (21.2) | 0.36 |
| MASLD (n = 633, n = 70 and n = 562, respectively) (%) | 307 (48.5) | 46 (65.7) | 261 (46.4) | 0.002 |
| LSM (kPa) | 5.3 (4.3–6.5) | 6.5 (5.3, 8.6) | 5.1 (4.2, 6.3) | 0.13 |
| CAP (n = 1038) (dB/m) | 235 (204–274) | 269.0 (226.0, 304.5) | 232.0 (203.0, 268.5) | <0.001 |
| FIB-4 >2.67 (%) | 283 (23.9) | 28 (23) | 255 (24) | 0.84 |
Continuous variables are expressed as median (interquartile range) and categorical variables are expressed as frequencies (%). The P values refer to Mann–Whitney and Kruskal–Wallis tests or χ 2 test between no fibrosis progression and fibrosis progression. ALT, alanine aminotransferase; ART, antiretroviral therapy; AST, aspartate aminotransferase; CAP, controlled attenuation parameter; d-drugs, dideoxynucleoside-drugs; FIB-4, fibrosis 4 index; HBV, hepatitis B virus; HCV, hepatitis C virus; HDL, high-density lipoprotein; INSTI, integrase strand transfer inhibitors; IU, international units; LSM, liver stiffness measurement; MASLD, metabolic dysfunction-associated steatotic liver disease; NNRTI, nonnucleoside reverse transcriptase inhibitors; NRTI, nucleoside reverse transcriptase inhibitors; PI, protease inhibitors; TAF, tenofovir alafenamide.