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Hepatitis B Virus and HIV Coinfection: Fibrosis, Fat, and Future Directions
1Division of Infectious Diseases, Massachusetts General Hospital and Harvard Medical School, Boston, Massachusetts, USA.
Insights
HIV and hepatitis B virus (HBV) coinfection often leads to worse liver disease. This study examined liver biopsies in coinfected patients, finding significant fibrosis and frequent hepatic steatosis even with modern treatments.
Area of Science:
- Hepatology
- Virology
- Infectious Diseases
Background:
- HIV and HBV share transmission routes, leading to coinfection.
- Coinfection exacerbates liver disease, increasing HBV DNA levels and fibrosis progression.
- Liver biopsy use has declined, limiting recent data on hepatic histology in coinfected patients.
Abstract:
HIV and hepatitis B virus (HBV) share routes of transmission, and coinfection is associated with higher levels of HBV DNA, accelerated fibrosis progression, and increased liver-related events compared with those with HBV alone. The full spectrum of hepatic histology has not been recently addressed, in part because of the decreasing use of liver biopsy in clinical practice. The current study provides a modern "snapshot" of biopsy data from 114 HIV/HBV coinfected individuals, elucidating the degree of liver fibrosis years into the effective antiretroviral era and also revealing that hepatic steatosis was a frequent finding.
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