Treatment of Hepatitis C Virus Infection in the HIV- Infected Patients by Pegylated Interferon and Ribavirin in Tehran, Iran

Background and objectives: considering reductions in aids-related mortalities following effective anti-retroviral treatments in hiv/aids patients, hcv-associated liver diseases have turned into a major concern for hiv/hcv co-infected patients. the present study aims at determining svr rates in hiv/hcv co-infected patients under pegylated interferon and ribavirin treatment referring to tehran imam khomeini hospital during 2010 - 2013. methods: in this descriptive cross-sectional study, all hiv/hcv co-infected patients under pegilated interferon and ribavirin treatment referring to tehran imam khomeini hospital during 2010 - 2013 entered the study. the variables include demographic information, genotype, liver involvement stage in biopsy, viral load levels prior to treatment, 4th, 12th, and 48th week as well as 6 months after treatment (sustained virologic response (svr)), and cd4 count every 3 months. results: in the total of 28 male hiv/hcv co-infected patients of this study, 21.4% and 78.6% received peg ifn alfa- 2b, and pegifn alfa- 2a, respectively. there were 17 genotype i (61%), 9 (32%) genotype iii, and 2 (7%) genotype ii among the patients. the overall svr rate of the patients was 67.8%; it was 52.9% in genotype i and 72.7% in genotypes ii and iii. despite the cd4 count decline during treatment, opportunistic infections were not observed in any of the patients conclusions: svr rates in this study are higher than studies conducted in other countries and this implies the possibility of a more favorable genetic trait in iranian hcv patients responding to pegifn and ribavirin. that is still the proper regimen due to high price of free interferon regimens in iran.