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Session 23 Oral Abstracts
HIV/HCV Co-Infection
Tuesday, 4 - 6:15 pm
Presentation Time: 5:30 pm
Room 3000


116
DNA Polymorphisms Affect Severity of Disease and Response to Therapy in Subjects Co-infected with HCV and HIV
M Peters*1, J Anderson2, R Chung3, M Koziel4, K Sherman5, R Apple6, and ACTG 5071 team and NIAID – AIDS Clinical Trials Group, Bethesda, MD
1Univ. of California, San Francisco, USA; 2Statistical and Data Analysis Ctr. (SDAC), Harvard Sch. of Publ. Hlth., Boston, MA, USA; 3Harvard Med. Sch., Massachusetts Gen. Hosp., Boston, USA; 4Harvard Inst. of Med., Boston, MA, USA; 5Univ. of Cincinnati Med. Ctr., OH, USA; and 6Roche Molecular Systems, Alameda CA, USA

Background:  Host factors may play a role in the severity of HCV. We aimed to assess the role of DNA polymorphisms in 18 genes (coding region or promoter) involved in inflammation on the severity of HCV and on the response to treatment in HIV/HCV subjects receiving interferon (IFN) or PEG-IFN + ribavirin, in a randomized, multicenter, open label trial in 133 co-infected subjects.

Methods:  DNA was obtained from 81 subjects who had consented to genetic analysis; 25 single nucleotide polymorphisms were tested and reported as homozygous for wild type or variant, or heterozygous. Allelic frequencies were compared:  between 81 co-infected subjects and 2000 normal controls; with respect to entry liver histology (HAI); and between HCV responders (at 24 weeks or sustained 6 months after therapy) and non-responders. Multivariable models previously showed PEG, white race, Karnofsky score of 100, and low fibrosis to be jointly associated with 24-week virologic response in A5071. Multivariate analysis of sustained virologic response was confined to 43 PEG-IFN subjects because few IFN sustained virologic responders consented to testing.

Results:  Variant allelic frequencies were 16-fold higher for ICAM-1 in HIV/HCV subjects than in controls and >2-fold higher for IgE Fc receptor, IL4-receptor and P selectin. No response was associated with v ICAM1 (p <0.01 for 24 weeks and <0.03 for sustained virologic response), wild type CCR5 promoter (p <0.09 for sustained virologic response) and wild type CCR5 (p <0.02 at 24 weeks and <0.001 for sustained virologic response). Total HAI score correlated with wild type ICAM1 (p <0.08) and v CCR5 promoter (p <0.02). Classification and regression trees were used to identify factors jointly predicting 24 week virologic response, sustained virologic response, and fibrosis score and ranked in order of importance in the table below.

 

Predictors of 24w VR

Predictors of SVR

(n = 43 receiving PEG)

Predictors of Fibrosis

Genotype non-1

Genotype non-1

v CCR5 promoter

No ART at entry

v CCR5

wt TGFb

Receipt PEG IFN

 

HIV detectable

v IL4R

 

wt IL-13

low HCV RNA at entry

 

 

 

Conclusions:  In HIV/HCV co-infected individuals, host genetic factors appear important in development of fibrosis and in response to therapy. Allelic variations in proteins critical to the inflammatory response may alter the hepatic response to HCV as well as the severity of chronic disease.

Keywords: Hepatitis C; cytokines; DNA polymorphisms