Hepatic Safety of Currently Used Antiretroviral Regimens in HIV-infected Patients With Chronic Hepatitis B and/or Hepatitis C Under Real Life Conditions: The HEPAVIR HEPATIC SAFETY Cohort.

In the last years, various clinical trials and studies have evaluated the incidence of hepatic toxicity (HT) associated with the commonly used antiretroviral drugs in the HIV/hepatitis C virus (HCV)-infected population. Unfortunately, clinical trials that compared hepatic safety of these antiretrovirals include a low number of coinfected patients (van Leth 2004, Molina 2010, Ortiz 2008, Rockstroh 2012). According to recent cohort studies, rates of grade 3 or 4 transaminase elevations (TE) observed in patients receiving ritonavir-boosted protease inhibitors PI/r as lopinavir (LPV/r), atazanavir (ATV/r), fosamprenavir (FPV/r) and darunavir (DRV/r) are similar to those observed in individuals that receive efavirenz (EFV) or raltegravir (RAL) (Pineda 2008, Palacios 2006, Macías 2011, Neukam 2011). However, this conclusion may not be exact due to methodological problems. In this context, currently available data on severe TE are derived from cohort studies that were conducted in different populations, with distinct methods and/or data that was collected retrospectively.

Little information is available on whether the stage of liver damage influences the incidence of HT caused by antiretroviral drugs. Although two studies found an association between advanced fibrosis and higher rates of TE (Aranzabal 2005, Mira 2006), data obtained by further studies are contradictory (Pineda 2008, Palacios 2006, Macías 2011, Neukam 2011) and there are still open questions. Thus, the number of cirrhotic patients is considerably small in these cohorts, however, cirrhosis represents an important comorbidity in HIV. In these individuals, plasmatic concentrations of antiretroviral drugs could reach toxic levels which would be reflected in TE (Barreiro 2007).

Therefore, studies conducted in the same population and with the same methodology are required in order to obtain precise and reliable information on hepatic safety of all commonly used antiretroviral drugs in the clinical practice. These findings could contribute to a better understanding of differences between antiretrovirals and could therefore improve the individualization of antiretroviral therapy in individuals with chronic hepatitis B and/or C. Therefore, the HEPAVIR group of the Andalusian Society of Infectious Diseases (SAEI) has established a prospective cohort: The HEPAVIR Cohort.

Hypothesis: The incidence of severe TE associated with antiretroviral therapy in the clinical practice in hepatitis B virus and/or hepatitis C virus-coinfected patients could be different according to the administered drug.

Primary objective: To determine the incidence of grade 3 or 4 TE associated with antiretroviral therapy in the clinical practice in patients with viral hepatitis.