HIV Infection, Hepatitis C Infection, and HAART

The Prevalence and Risk Factors for Abnormal Liver Enzymes in HIV-Positive Patients without Hepatitis B or C Coinfections

“…Abnormal liver chemistries (aspartate aminotransferase: AST, alanine aminotransferase: ALT, and alkaline phosphatase: ALP) are common and occur in 40-60% of patients on current HAART regimens even in the absence of HCV or HBV [4][5][6], and their management remains a challenge [7]. This high proportion is far greater than expected in the general population of 8% [8].…”

Assessment of factors associated with the quality of life of patients living with HIV/HCV co-infection

“…If one of the main goals of health care is also to improve patients' QoL and mental health, enhanced understanding of the differences in QoL of HIV mono-infected and HIV/HCV co-infected patients and of the factors associated with QoL may contribute to identify, within the larger HIV population, the subgroups that may be at increased risk of poorer QoL, and may also contribute to the development of effective interventions that could improve these patients' well-being. Given the complexity of the clinical management of dual infections (Kottilil, Pollis, & Kovacs, 2004) and the fact that dualdiagnosed patients pose unique challenges for mental health providers (Silberbogen, Ulloa, Janke, & Mori, 2009), these findings should also benefit mental health care by identifying potential targets of intervention, based on each group's specific needs, to be addressed in clinical practice.…”

Safety, efficacy, and tolerability of nelfinavir-containing antiretroviral therapy for patients coinfected with HIV and hepatitis C undergoing methadone maintenance

“…There are studies that have looked into potential acceleration of liver toxicity with treatment of HIV with PIs in the face of hepatitis C coinfection (Benhamou et al, 2001;Kottilil, Polis, & Kovacs, 2004;Mehta et al, 2005;Sulkowski et al, 2000;Sulkowski, Berk & Dieterich, 2003;Sulkowski, Mehta, Chaisson, Thomas & Moore, 2004). Although these studies suggest caution and more frequent monitoring of LFTs, PI therapy has generally been found to be relatively safe and effective, with the possible exception of full-dose ritonavir-containing regimens in which the findings have been mixed (Antoniou & Tseng, 2002;Sulkowski et al, 2000Sulkowski et al, , 2003Sulkowski et al, , 2004.…”