Vitamin D deficiency is associated with severity of liver disease in HIV/HCV coinfected patients

J Infect. 2013 Nov 1. pii: S0163-4453(13)00326-5. doi: 10.1016/j.jinf.2013.10.011. [Epub ahead of print]

Guzmán-Fulgencio M, García-Álvarez M, Berenguer J, Jiménez-Sousa MA, Cosín J, Pineda-Tenor D, Carrero A, Aldámiz T, Alvarez E, López JC, Resino S.

Unit of Viral Infection and Immunity, National Centre of Microbiology, Instituto de Salud Carlos III, Majadahonda, Madrid, Spain.

Abstract

OBJECTIVE: To study the association of plasma 25-hydroxy vitamin D (25(OH)D) levels in HIV/HCV coinfected patients with severity of liver disease and virological response to hepatitis C virus (HCV) therapy with pegylated-interferon-alpha plus ribavirin (pegIFNα/RBV).

METHODS: A cross-sectional study in 174 HIV/HCV coinfected patients that underwent a liver biopsy previously to start HCV therapy and a retrospective study of 125 of them. Plasma 25(OH)D levels were quantified by enzyme immunoassay. Liver biopsies were evaluated by METAVIR score. A sustained virological response (SVR) was defined as an undetectable serum HCV viral load (<10 IU/mL) up through 24 weeks after the end of HCV treatment.

RESULTS: The median of plasma 25(OH)D level was 48 nmol/L (p25th: 32.5; p75th: 56.1) and 27 (15.5%) had 25(OH)D deficiency (<25 nmol/L). The percentage of 25(OH)D deficiency was higher in patients with significant fibrosis (F ≥ 2) (92.6% vs. 57.1%; p = 0.010) and moderate necroinflammatory activity grade (A ≥ 2) (85.2% vs. 60%; p = 0.043). However, adjusted logistic regression analyses showed that 25(OH)D deficiency was only associated with severity of liver disease [F ≥ 2 (OR = 8.47 (95% of confidence interval (CI) = 1.88; 38.3); p = 0.005) and A ≥ 2 (OR = 3.25 (95%CI = 1.06; 10.1); p = 0.040)]. Moreover, any significant relationship was found between 25(OH)D deficiency and SVR after HCV therapy.

CONCLUSION: Plasma 25(OH)D deficiency was associated with liver disease severity in HIV/HCV coinfected patients, but it was not associated with HCV treatment failure.

Copyright © 2013. Published by Elsevier Ltd.

KEYWORDS: AIDS, Antiviral therapy, Chronic hepatitis C, Hepatic biopsy, Liver fibrosis, Vitamin D

PMID: 24184809  [PubMed - as supplied by publisher]

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