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Background In France, it is estimated that 24% of HIV-infected patients are also infected with HCV. Longitudinal studies addressing clinical and public health questions related to HIV-HCV co-infection (HIV-HCV clinical progression and its determinants including genetic dimension, patients' experience with these two diseases and their treatments) are limited. The ANRS CO 13 HEPAVIH cohort was set up to explore these critical questions. To describe the cohort aims and organization, monitoring and data collection procedures, baseline characteristics, as well as follow-up findings to date. Methods Inclusion criteria in the cohort were: age > 18 years, HIV-1 infection, chronic hepatitis C virus (HCV) infection or sustained response to HCV treatment. A standardized medical questionnaire collecting socio-demographic, clinical, biological, therapeutic, histological, ultrasound and endoscopic data is administered at enrolment, then every six months for cirrhotic patients or yearly for non-cirrhotic patients. Also, a self-administered questionnaire documenting socio-behavioral data and adherence to HIV and/or HCV treatments is administered at enrolment and yearly thereafter. Results A total of 1,175 patients were included from January 2006 to December 2008. Their median age at enrolment was 45 years and 70.2% were male. The median CD4 cell count was 442 (IQR: 304-633) cells/μl and HIV RNA plasma viral load was undetectable in 68.8%. Most participants (71.6%) were on HAART. Among the 1,048 HIV-HCV chronically co-infected patients, HCV genotype 1 was predominant (56%) and cirrhosis was present in 25%. As of January, 2010, after a median follow-up of 16.7 months (IQR: 11.3-25.3), 13 new cases of decompensated cirrhosis, nine hepatocellular carcinomas and 20 HCV-related deaths were reported, resulting in a cumulative HCV-related severe event rate of 1.9/100 person-years (95% CI: 1.3-2.5). The rate of HCV-related severe events was higher in cirrhotic patients and those with a low CD4 cells count, but did not differ according to sex, age, alcohol consumption, CDC clinical stage or HCV status. Conclusion The ANRS CO 13 HEPAVIH is a nation-wide cohort using a large network of HIV treatment, infectious diseases and internal medicine clinics in France, and thus is highly representative of the French population living with these two viruses and in care.

Although an increasing number of noninvasive fibrosis markers are available in HCV-monoinfected patients, data on the performance of these tests in HIV-HCV-coinfected patients are lacking. To assess the diagnostic performance for predicting hepatic fibrosis stage of four simple and inexpensive noninvasive indexes (FIB-4, APRI, Forns, and platelet count) in HIV-HCV-coinfected patients. Two hundred consecutive HIV-HCV-coinfected patients from the ANRS-CO3 Aquitaine cohort who underwent liver biopsy were studied. Fibrosis stage was assessed according to Metavir scoring system by a single pathologist unaware of the data of the patients. Diagnostic performances were assessed by measuring the areas under the receiver operating characteristic curves (AUROC) and the percentage of patients correctly identified (PCI). For predicting significant fibrosis (F > or = 2), APRI, Forns index, and FIB-4 had AUROCS of 0.77, 0.75, and 0.79, with 39%, 25%, and 70% of PCI, respectively. For predicting severe fibrosis (F > or = 3), FIB-4 had AUROC of 0.77 with 56% of PCI. For predicting cirrhosis (F4), FIB-4, APRI, and platelet count had AUROCs of 0.80, 0.79, and 0.78, with 59%, 60%, and 76% of PCI, respectively. Overall, diagnostic performances of the different indexes did not differ significantly for both significant fibrosis and cirrhosis. The use of these noninvasive indexes could save liver biopsies in up to 56-76% of cases for the prediction of severe fibrosis-cirrhosis. However, given the high percentage of misclassified cases for significant fibrosis, such indexes do not appear currently suitable for use in clinical practice in HIV-HCV-coinfected patients.

Background Treatment for the hepatitis C virus (HCV) may be delayed significantly in HIV/HCV co-infected patients. Our study aims at identifying the correlates of access to HCV treatment in this population. Methods We used 3-year follow-up data from the HEPAVIH ANRS-CO13 nationwide French cohort which enrolled patients living with HIV and HCV. We included pegylated interferon and ribavirin-naive patients (N = 600) at enrolment. Clinical/biological data were retrieved from medical records. Self-administered questionnaires were used for both physicians and their patients to collect data about experience and behaviors, respectively. Results Median [IQR] follow-up was 12[12-24] months and 124 patients (20.7%) had started HCV treatment. After multiple adjustment including patients' negative beliefs about HCV treatment, those followed up by a general practitioner working in a hospital setting were more likely to receive HCV treatment (OR[95%CI]: 1.71 [1.06-2.75]). Patients followed by general practitioners also reported significantly higher levels of alcohol use, severe depressive symptoms and poor social conditions than those followed up by other physicians. Conclusions Hospital-general practitioner networks can play a crucial role in engaging patients who are the most vulnerable and in reducing existing inequities in access to HCV care. Further operational research is needed to assess to what extent these models can be implemented in other settings and for patients who bear the burden of multiple co-morbidities.

Background. Diabetes and insulin resistance (IR) is common in human immunodeficiency virus–hepatitis C virus (HIV–HCV)-coinfected patients, a population also concerned with elevated cannabis use. Cannabis has been associated with reduced IR risk in some population-based surveys. We determined whether cannabis use was consistently associated with reduced IR risk in HEPAVIH, a French nationwide cohort of HIV–HCV-coinfected patients. Methods. HEPAVIH medical and sociobehavioral data were collected (using annual self-administered questionnaires). We used 60 months of follow-up data for patients with at least 1 medical visit where IR (using homeostatic model assessment of insulin resistance [HOMA-IR]) and cannabis use were assessed. A mixed logistic regression model was used to evaluate the association between IR risk (HOMA-IR > 2.77) and cannabis use (occasional, regular, daily). Results. Among the 703 patients included in the study (1287 visits), 323 (46%) had HOMA-IR > 2.77 for at least 1 follow-up visit and 319 (45%) reported cannabis use in the 6 months before the first available visit. Cannabis users (irrespective of frequency) were less likely to have HOMA-IR > 2.77 (odds ratio [95% confidence interval], 0.4 [.2–.5]) after adjustment for known correlates/confounders. Two sensitivity analyses with HOMA-IR values as a continuous variable and a cutoff value of 3.8 confirmed the association between reduced IR risk and cannabis use. Conclusions. Cannabis use is associated with a lower IR risk in HIV–HCV-coinfected patients. The benefits of cannabis-based pharmacotherapies for patients concerned with increased risk of IR and diabetes need to be evaluated in clinical research and practice.

The management of co-infection with HIV and hepatitis C virus (HCV) is complicated by viral and drug-drug interactions, treatment-related side effects, and the poor response to therapy of certain HCV genotypes. Current or past drug use may also have a negative impact. HEPAVIH (ANRS CO13) is an ongoing French cohort study of co-infected individuals which combines medical and socio-behavioral follow-up. This cohort study aims at analyzing the course of HCV infection and access to HCV treatment in HIV-HCV co-infected patients, using both clinical and patient-reported outcomes. This article documents the main lessons learned to date from the HEPAVIH data and published literature, while describing research prospects and needs requiring further investigation in the field of patient-reported outcomes.

Comment in Reply to Marcellin et al. [Clin Infect Dis. 2014]Comment on Relationship between alcohol use categories and noninvasive markers of advanced hepatic fibrosis in HIV-infected, chronic hepatitis C virus-infected, and uninfected patients. [Clin Infect Dis. 2014]

BACKGROUND: Although an increasing number of noninvasive fibrosis markers are available in HCV-monoinfected patients, data on the performance of these tests in HIV-HCV-coinfected patients are lacking. OBJECTIVE: To assess the diagnostic performance for predicting hepatic fibrosis stage of four simple and inexpensive noninvasive indexes (FIB-4, APRI, Forns, and platelet count) in HIV-HCV-coinfected patients. METHODS: Two hundred consecutive HIV-HCV-coinfected patients from the ANRS-CO3 Aquitaine cohort who underwent liver biopsy were studied. Fibrosis stage was assessed according to Metavir scoring system by a single pathologist unaware of the data of the patients. Diagnostic performances were assessed by measuring the areas under the receiver operating characteristic curves (AUROC) and the percentage of patients correctly identified (PCI). RESULTS: For predicting significant fibrosis (F > or = 2), APRI, Forns index, and FIB-4 had AUROCS of 0.77, 0.75, and 0.79, with 39%, 25%, and 70% of PCI, respectively. For predicting severe fibrosis (F > or = 3), FIB-4 had AUROC of 0.77 with 56% of PCI. For predicting cirrhosis (F4), FIB-4, APRI, and platelet count had AUROCs of 0.80, 0.79, and 0.78, with 59%, 60%, and 76% of PCI, respectively. Overall, diagnostic performances of the different indexes did not differ significantly for both significant fibrosis and cirrhosis. CONCLUSION: The use of these noninvasive indexes could save liver biopsies in up to 56-76% of cases for the prediction of severe fibrosis-cirrhosis. However, given the high percentage of misclassified cases for significant fibrosis, such indexes do not appear currently suitable for use in clinical practice in HIV-HCV-coinfected patients.

In France, it is estimated that 24% of HIV-infected patients are also infected with HCV. Longitudinal studies addressing clinical and public health questions related to HIV-HCV co-infection (HIV-HCV clinical progression and its determinants including genetic dimension, patients' experience with these two diseases and their treatments) are limited. The ANRS CO 13 HEPAVIH cohort was set up to explore these critical questions. Inclusion criteria in the cohort were: age > 18 years, HIV-1 infection, chronic hepatitis C virus (HCV) infection or sustained response to HCV treatment. A standardized medical questionnaire collecting socio-demographic, clinical, biological, therapeutic, histological, ultrasound and endoscopic data is administered at enrolment, then every six months for cirrhotic patients or yearly for non-cirrhotic patients. Also, a self-administered questionnaire documenting socio-behavioral data and adherence to HIV and/or HCV treatments is administered at enrolment and yearly thereafter. A total of 1,175 patients were included from January 2006 to December 2008. Their median age at enrolment was 45 years and 70.2% were male. The median CD4 cell count was 442 (IQR: 304-633) cells/[mu]l and HIV RNA plasma viral load was undetectable in 68.8%. Most participants (71.6%) were on HAART. Among the 1,048 HIV-HCV chronically co-infected patients, HCV genotype 1 was predominant (56%) and cirrhosis was present in 25%. As of January, 2010, after a median follow-up of 16.7 months (IQR: 11.3-25.3), 13 new cases of decompensated cirrhosis, nine hepatocellular carcinomas and 20 HCV-related deaths were reported, resulting in a cumulative HCV-related severe event rate of 1.9/100 person-years (95% CI: 1.3-2.5). The rate of HCV-related severe events was higher in cirrhotic patients and those with a low CD4 cells count, but did not differ according to sex, age, alcohol consumption, CDC clinical stage or HCV status. The ANRS CO 13 HEPAVIH is a nation-wide cohort using a large network of HIV treatment, infectious diseases and internal medicine clinics in France, and thus is highly representative of the French population living with these two viruses and in care.