PLoS ONE (Jan 2018)
HIV-1 co-receptor tropism and liver fibrosis in HIV-infected patients.
Abstract
In vitro, gp120 of both X4 and R5 HIV-1 strains activates human hepatic stellate cells, but if it can promote liver fibrosis in vivo is unknown. We aimed to evaluate if patients carrying X4 or R5 strains have a different liver fibrosis (LF) progression over time.A total of 1,137 HIV-infected patients in ICONA cohort (21% females, 7% HCV co-infected) with an available determination of HIV-1 co-receptor tropism (CRT), a Fibrosis-4 Index for Liver Fibrosis (FIB-4) 100.000 cp/mL, antiretroviral therapy exposure were associated with LF progression at multivariate analysis.A slight LF progression over time was observed in HIV-infected patients. No difference was demonstrated for X4 and R5 HIV-1 strains in accelerating LF evolution.