GB Virus C infection in Patients With HIV/Hepatitis C Virus Coinfection: Improvement of the Liver Function in Chronic Hepatitis C

Background: previous studies in patients with hepatitis c virus (hcv)/hiv coinfection have shown that the presence of gbv-c is associated with significantly less compensated and decompensated cirrhosis, and an improvement in cirrhosis-free survival. objectives: this study aimed to describe the effect of gbv-c in patients with chronic hepatitis c and hiv coinfection. patients and methods: we retrospectively studied 105 injecting drug users with chronic hepatitis c and hiv coinfection and 72 patients with chronic hcv mono-infections. plasma samples were tested for gbv-c rna with primers to the 5’untranslated region gene. hiv and hcv viral load, cd4+ and cd8+ cell count, and the levels of alanine aminotransferase (alt) and aspartate aminotransferase (ast) were tested in all patients. results: gbv-c rna was identified in 34 (32.38%) of the patients with hiv/hcv coinfection, and in 24 (33.33%) of the patients with hcv mono-infection. gbv-c infection was associated with significantly lower alt and ast levels in patients with chronic hepatitis c and hiv coinfection, but not in those hcv mono-infections. the presence of gbv-c infection was not correlated with cd4+ and cd8+ cell count, gender, age, hiv load, hcv load, and hcv genotype. conclusions: this study found that gbv-c infection has a high frequency among injecting drug users with hiv/hcv coinfection and hcv mono-infection in yunnan, china. in patients with chronic hepatitis c and hiv coinfection, gbv-c rna was associated with significantly lower alt and ast levels, suggesting a beneficial effect of gbv-c infection on chronic hepatitis c.