AASLD 2013: High Response Rates with Telaprevir Triple Therapy for HIV+ Men with Acute Hepatitis C

Adding telaprevir (Incivek) to pegylated interferon and ribavirin shortens the duration of treatment and improves sustained response rates for HIV positive men with acute hepatitis C virus (HCV) infection, according to a presentation yesterday at the at the 64thAASLD Liver Meeting in Washington, DC.

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ICAAC 2013: Treatment of HCV Genotypes 2/3 in HIV/HCV Coinfected People

HIV/HCV coinfected patients, mostly with hepatitis C virus (HCV) genotype 3, responded about as well as HIV negative people to pegylated interferon plus ribavirin after taking into account other factors associated with poor treatment response, according to an Italian study presented at the 53rd Interscience Conference on Antimicrobial Agents and Chemotherapy (ICAAC 2013) this month in Denver. Advanced liver fibrosis was common in the coinfected group, supporting the need for early treatment.

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AASLD Liver Meeting Starts this Weekend in Washington, DC

The American Association for the Study of Liver Diseases (AASLD) annual Liver Meeting gets underway this Friday, running November 1-5 at the Walter E. Washington Convention Center in Washington, DC. The highlight of this year's meeting will be numerous presentations on next-generation direct-acting antivirals (DAAs) for hepatitis C, now in late stages of development, both as interferon add-ons and in interferon-free regimens.

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ICAAC 2013: Is HCV Infection Increasing Among HIV+ Gay Men in Japan?

The incidence of acute hepatitis C virus (HCV) coinfection has increased in recent years at the largest HIV clinic in Japan, with almost all cases occurring among men who have sex with men, according to a poster presented at the 53rd Interscience Conference on Antimicrobial Agents and Chemotherapy (ICAAC 2013) this month in Denver. For those treated early with pegylated interferon plus ribavirin, the cure rate was high at 80%.

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Coverage of the 2013 AASLD Liver Meeting

HIVandHepatitis.com coverage of the 64th Annual Meeting of the American Association for the Study of Liver Diseases (AASLD 2013) in Washington, DC, November 1-5, 2013.

Conference highlights include treatment for hepatitis B and C, new direct-acting HCV drugs, interferon-free hepatitis C therapy, management of liver disease complications, HIV/HBV and HIV/HCV coinfection, and prevention and treatment of hepatocellular carcioma.

Full listing by topic

10/30/13

ICAAC 2013: Interferon Response Reduces Liver Disease and Death in HIV/HCV Coinfected

Effective interferon-based therapy that produces sustained virological response (SVR) led to significant reductions in liver decompensation, HIV disease progression, and both overall and liver-related mortality among HIV/HCV coinfected patients, according to a presentation at the 53rd Interscience Conference on Antimicrobial Agents and Chemotherapy (ICAAC 2013) last week in Denver.  

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EACS 2013: Faldaprevir Demonstrates Good Early Response in Genotype 1 HIV/HCV Coinfection

The HCV protease inhibitor faldaprevir added to pegylated interferon and ribavirin increased the likelihood that HIV/HCV co-infected people would achieve a sustained response at 4 weeks after completing treatment, according to a report at the 4th European AIDS Conference last week in Brussels.

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Coverage of 2013 Interscience Conference on Antimicrobial Agents and Chemotherapy

HIVandHepatitis.com coverage of the 53nd Interscience Conference on Antimicrobial Agents and Chemotherapy (ICAAC), Denver, September 9-13, 2013.

Highlights of this year's meeting include experimental antiretroviral drugs and treatment strategies, CD4 cell gene therapy, HIV/HCV coinfection, liver transplants for people with HIV, and other sexually transmitted infections.

Full listing by topic

HIVandHepatitis.com ICAAC 2013 conference section

9/13/13

Coverage of the 14th European AIDS Conference

HIVandHepatitis.com coverage of the 14th European AIDS Conference, sponsored by the European AIDS Clinical Society (EACS), October 16-19, 2013, in Brussels.

Conference highlights include antiretroviral therapy strategies and new HIV drugs, new treatment for hepatitis C, biomedical HIV prevention, HIV cure research, and the epidemic in Eastern Europe.

Full listing by topic

10/20/13

IAS 2013: People with HBV or HCV Coinfection May Not Respond as Well to HIV Treatment

HIV positive people with hepatitis B or C coinfection in Asia had lower CD4 T-cell counts, saw smaller CD4 cell gains after starting antiretroviral therapy, and had a higher risk of death, researchers reported at the recent 7th International AIDS Society Conference on HIV Pathogenesis, Treatment and Prevention (IAS 2013) in Kuala Lumpur.

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European AIDS Conference Features Latest HIV & Hepatitis C Data, New Guidelines

The European AIDS Conference, the biennial meeting of the European AIDS Clinical Society (EACS), opened Wednesday in Brussels, the site of the organization's first meeting 25 years ago. The conference included the latest news on antiretroviral therapy (ART) for HIV, hepatitis C treatment for HIV/HCV coinfected people, and biomedical HIV prevention, as well as the launch of updated European treatment guidelines.

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IAS 2013: HIV/HCV Coinfected Children in Europe Have Poor Hepatitis C Treatment Outcomes

HIV/HCV coinfection was uncommon among children and adolescents in a large European cohort, but within this group hepatitis C treatment generally occurred late and rarely led to sustained response, researchers reported at the 7th International AIDS Society Conference on HIV Pathogenesis, Treatment and Prevention (IAS 2013) this month in Kuala Lumpur.

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IDWeek 2103: Predicting Response to Acute Hepatitis C Treatment for HIV/HCV Coinfected People

HIV/HCV coinfected people with higher HCV viral load, lower CD4 T-cell counts, older age, and unfavorable IL28B status may not respond as well to interferon-based treatment for acute hepatitis C and may benefit from adding a direct-acting antiviral agent, researchers reported at the 2nd IDWeek meeting last week in San Francisco.

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IAS 2013: HIV/HCV Coinfected People Do Well on HCV Triple Therapy Despite Contraindications

Nearly three-quarters of HIV/HCV coinfected patients in the French HEPAVIH cohort achieved end-of-treatment virological response to hepatitis C treatment with telaprevir plus pegylated interferon/ribavirin, even though one-third had potential contraindications to this type of therapy, according to a report at the 7th International AIDS Society Conference on HIV Pathogenesis, Treatment and Prevention (IAS 2013) this month in Kuala Lumpur.

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IDWeek 2013: Liver Fibrosis Linked to Immune Activation in HIV/HCV Coinfected Women

CD4 and CD8 T-cell activation were found to be associated with biomarkers of liver fibrosis among HIV/HCV coinfected women, suggesting that immune activation related to persistent HIV infection may play a role in liver disease progression, researchers reported at the Second IDWeek conference this week in San Francisco.

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Marijuana Does Not Promote Liver Disease Progression in HIV/HCV Coinfected People

Smoking cannabis was not associated with liver fibrosis progression in a study of nearly 700 people with HIV and hepatitis C coinfection, according to a study described in the June 28, 2013, advance edition of Clinical Infectious Diseases.

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ILCA 2013: High HBV Viral Load Raises Risk of Progression to Liver Cancer

Hepatitis B patients with high HBV DNA levels, indicating active viral replication, are more likely to experience progression of abnormal liver nodules to hepatocellular carcinoma, researchers reported at the 7th International Liver Cancer Association Annual Conference (ILCA 2013) last month in Washington, DC.

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IAS 2013: Studies Look at Second-Line Bone Changes, Fractures, and HIV- and HCV-Related Bone Loss

People with HIV experience less bone loss if they switch to a NRTI-sparing second-line regimen containing raltegravir, researchers reported last week at the 7th International AIDS Society Conference on HIV Pathogenesis, Treatment and Prevention (IAS 2013) this week in Kuala Lumpur. Other studies showed that HIV infection is associated with increased risk of hip fractures and shed light on different mechanisms of bone loss associated with HIV and hepatitis C.

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ICAAC 2013: Liver Cancer Often Diagnosed Late with Poor Survival in People with HIV

Hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) is frequently diagnosed at an advanced stage in HIV positive people with hepatitis B or C coinfection, contributing to a high mortality rate that has changed little in recent years, according to a report at the recent 53rd Interscience Conference on Antimicrobial Agents and Chemotherapy (ICAAC 2013) in Denver.

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IAS 2013: Second-line HIV Therapy with NRTIs Linked to Bone Loss [VIDEO]

Bone loss occurs less often when people on failing antiretroviral therapy switch to a NRTI-sparing second-line regimen containing raltegravir, researchers reported last week at the 7th International AIDS Society Conference on HIV Pathogenesis, Treatment and Prevention (IAS 2013) this week in Kuala Lumpur.

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