Table 2.
Characteristics of the 201 HIV/HCV-coinfected patients, who underwent liver biopsies.
| Characteristic | Values |
| No. HIV-1 patients * | 201 |
| Sex (male) * | 152 (75.6) |
| Age (years) † | 39.4 (36.8; 43.3) |
| HIV acquired by IVDU * | 180 (89.6) |
| Prior AIDS * | 62 (30.8) |
| Years since HCV infection †, ‡ | 21.3 (17.7; 24.3) |
| High alcohol intake *, § | 28 (14) |
| Antiretroviral therapy | |
| Non treated * | 10 (5) |
| PI-based * | 47 (23.4) |
| NNRTI-based * | 104 (51.7) |
| 3 NRTI-based * | 25 (12.4) |
| Other * | 15 (7.5) |
| Months on HAART (n = 190) † | 50.2 (34.9; 65.7) |
| Stage of liver fibrosis * | |
| F0 | 16 (8) |
| F1 | 68 (33.8) |
| F2 | 53 (26.4) |
| F3 | 41 (20.4) |
| F4 | 23 (11.4) |
| Fibrosis progression index † | 0.08 (0.05; 0.15) |
| HIV markers | |
| Nadir CD4+ T-cells † | 210 (103; 324) |
| Baseline CD4+ T-cells/μL † | 490 (373; 660) |
| HIV-RNA < 50 cp/mL * | 156 (77.6) |
| Log10 VL copies/mL (n = 45) | 3.23 (2.71; 3.98) |
| HCV markers * | |
| HCV genotype | |
| 1 or 4 | 153 (77.3) |
| 3 | 45 (22.7) |
| HCV-RNA >850,000 cp/ml | 125 (75.8) |
| Hematologic parameters † | |
| Platelet count (× 109/L) | 177 (140; 221) |
| Fibrinogen (mg/dL) | 259 (228; 305) |
| INR | 1 (1; 1.02) |
| Biochemical parameters † | |
| ALP (IU/L) | 124 (81; 196) |
| AST (IU/L) | 57 (37.5; 85) |
| GGT (IU/L) | 113 (58; 208) |
| ALT (IU/L) | 77 (49; 117) |
| AST/ALT | 0.75 (0.6; 0.97) |
*Absolute number (percentage). †Median (25th percentile; 75th percentile). ‡The duration of HCV infection for patients with a history of intravenous drug use (IVDU) was calculated starting from the first year needles were shared. Duration of HCV infection was considered to be unknown for subjects infected through sexual contact. §Patients were questioned in relation to alcohol consumption. The consumption of > 50 gr. of alcohol per day for ≥12 months was considered as a high intake.
Abbreviations: HCV, Hepatitis C virus; HIV-1, Human immunodeficiency virus type 1; IVDU, intravenous drug users; HAART, highly active antiretroviral therapy; NRTI, nucleoside analogue HIV reverse transcriptase inhibitor; NNRTI, non-nucleoside analogue HIV reverse transcriptase inhibitor; PI, protease inhibitor; HIV-RNA, HIV plasma viral load; HCV-RNA, HCV plasma viral load; INR, international normalized ratio; ALP, alkaline phosphatase; AST, aspartate aminotransferase; GGT, gamma glutamyl transpeptidase; ALT, alanine aminotransferase.