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World J Clin Cases. Jun 26, 2021; 9(18): 4491-4499
Published online Jun 26, 2021. doi: 10.12998/wjcc.v9.i18.4491
Current treatment for hepatitis C virus/human immunodeficiency virus coinfection in adults
Ratchapong Laiwatthanapaisan, Apichet Sirinawasatien
Ratchapong Laiwatthanapaisan, Gastroenterology Center, Vibhavadi Hospital, Bangkok 10900, Thailand
Apichet Sirinawasatien, Department of Internal Medicine, Division of Gastroenterology, Rajavithi Hospital, College of Medicine, Rangsit University, Bangkok 10400, Thailand
Author contributions: Laiwatthanapaisan R drafted the manuscript; Sirinawasatien A conceived the idea for this review, supervised and revised the manuscript; All authors read and approved the final manuscript.
Conflict-of-interest statement: The authors have declared that no competing interests exist.
Open-Access: This article is an open-access article that was selected by an in-house editor and fully peer-reviewed by external reviewers. It is distributed in accordance with the Creative Commons Attribution NonCommercial (CC BY-NC 4.0) license, which permits others to distribute, remix, adapt, build upon this work non-commercially, and license their derivative works on different terms, provided the original work is properly cited and the use is non-commercial. See: http://creativecommons.org/Licenses/by-nc/4.0/
Corresponding author: Apichet Sirinawasatien, MD, Doctor, Department of Internal Medicine, Division of Gastroenterology, Rajavithi Hospital, College of Medicine, Rangsit University, 2 Phayathai Road, Rajathewi, Bangkok 10400, Thailand. sui_apichet@hotmail.com
Received: January 20, 2021
Peer-review started: January 20, 2021
First decision: February 23, 2021
Revised: March 1, 2021
Accepted: April 13, 2021
Article in press: April 13, 2021
Published online: June 26, 2021
Abstract

Hepatitis C virus (HCV)/human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) coinfection is a major problem among HIV-infected patients, resulting in increased morbidity and mortality rates due to the acceleration of liver fibrosis progression by HIV, leading to liver cirrhosis and hepatocellular carcinoma. Although the efficacy of direct-acting antiviral therapy in patients with HIV/HCV coinfection and HCV monoinfection are similar in terms of sustained virologic response rate, there are some additional complications that arise in the treatment of patients with HIV/HCV coinfection, including drug-drug interactions and HCV reinfection due to the high risk behavior of these patients. This review will summarize the current management of HIV/HCV coinfection.

Keywords: Viral hepatitis C, Human immunodeficiency virus, Liver fibrosis, Cirrhosis, Hepatocellular carcinoma, Direct-acting antiviral agents, Antiretroviral therapy

Core Tip: Hepatitis C virus (HCV) coinfection is a major cause of liver-related disease among patients with human immunodeficiency virus (HIV), with higher rates of morbidity and mortality compared to HCV-monoinfected patients. Treatment with direct-acting antiviral (DAA) agents has shown good efficacy in HCV/HIV-coinfected patients and achieves sustained virologic response (SVR) rates similar to those of HCV-monoinfected patients. The appropriate selection of DAA regimen is of crucial importance, however, and drug interaction with antiretroviral therapy should be taken into account to avoid adverse outcomes and lower rates of SVR.