Impact of Hepatitis C Virus on Immune Restoration in HIV-infected Patients Who Start Highly Active Antiretroviral Therapy: a Meta-analysis

Background: There are conflicting data in the medical literature regarding the degree of immune restoration (as measured by CD4 cell count) in patients who commence highly active antiretroviral therapy (HAART) when coinfected with human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) and hepatitis C virus (HCV), compared with those with HIV infection alone.

Methods: We performed a meta-analysis that compared CD4 cell count increases after HAART initiation in HCV-negative and HCV-positive patients who were infected with HIV. Published studies in the English-language medical literature that involved cohorts of HCV-negative and HCV-positive patients who were coinfected with HIV were obtained by searching the Medline, Embase Drugs and Pharmacology, and EBM Review-Cochrane Central Register of Controlled Trials databases. Data were extracted independently from relevant studies by 3 investigators and were used in a fixed-effects meta-analysis to determine the mean difference in the expected CD4 count change in the 2 groups.

Results: Eight trials involving 6216 patients were analyzed. Patients with HIV-HCV coinfection had a mean increase in the CD4 cell count that was 33.4 cells/mm3 (95% CI, 23.5-43.3 cells/mm3) less than that for HIV-infected patients without HCV infection. The results of the meta-analysis were independent of any one study and were not influenced by the year in which HAART was started.

Conclusions: This meta-analysis shows that patients with HIV-HCV coinfection do, in fact, have less immune reconstitution, as determined by CD4 cell count after 48 weeks of HAART, than do patients with HCV infection alone. Future research should examine whether an impaired immunologic response corresponds with meaningful virologic and clinical outcomes.