Hepatitis C virus genetic variability in 52 human immunodeficiency virus-coinfected patients

✍ Scribed by Didier Neau; Anne-Christine Jouvencel; Elisabeth Legrand; Pascale Trimoulet; Tatiana Galperine; Isabelle Chitty; Michel Ventura; Brigitte Le Bail; Philippe Morlat; Jean-Yves Lacut; Jean-Marie Ragnaud; Michel Dupon; Hervé Fleury; Marie-Edith Lafon

• Publisher: John Wiley and Sons
• Year: 2003
• Tongue: English
• Weight: 129 KB
• Volume: 71
• Category: Article
• ISSN: 0146-6615
• DOI: 10.1002/jmv.10451

✦ Synopsis

Abstract

The aim of this study was to examine whether hepatitis C virus (HCV) pretreatment quasispecies complexity was linked to virological response or other clinical and biological parameters, in human immunodeficiency virus (HIV)‐coinfected patients undergoing anti‐HCV treatment. In addition, HCV quasispecies composition is described longitudinally in these patients before, during, and after treatment. The 52 HIV‐coinfected patients were included in a randomized therapeutic trial. At inclusion, they had CD4^+^ counts of >250/μl, HIV plasma load of <10,000 copies/ml, and chronic HCV infection with genotype 1 (n = 27), 2 (n = 2) or 3 (n = 23). These values were compared at baseline with 32 HCV‐only‐infected, interferon‐naive patients who were infected with genotype 1, 2, or 3 (n = 16, 1, or 15, respectively). HCV complexity was studied by single‐strand conformation polymorphism (SSCP) in E2 hypervariable region 1 (HVR1), and diversity was evaluated at inclusion in 20 coinfected patients by sequencing four major SSCP bands. The baseline number of SSCP bands was identical in HIV‐infected and control patients. In HIV‐infected patients, HCV complexity was not predictive of sustained virological response to anti‐HCV treatment and was unrelated to epidemiological factors, immunological parameters linked to HIV infection (CD4^+^ counts, T CD4^+^ proliferative responses to HIV‐1 p24), protease inhibitor treatment, HCV plasma load, or genotype. HCV diversity was lower in genotype 2‐ and 3‐infected patients. Six months after completion of the anti‐HCV treatment, in comparison with baseline, SSCP profiles were modified in 13 of the 21 nonresponding coinfected patients with analyzable samples. In conclusion, in HIV‐infected patients, HCV variability had no significant influence on virological response to anti‐HCV treatment. J. Med. Virol. 71:41–48, 2003. © 2003 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.