The impact of HCV infection duration on HIV disease progression and response to cART amongst HIV seroconverters in the UK

Introduction: The effect of HCV infection on HIV disease progression remains unclear; the effect of HCV infection duration on HIV disease progression is unknown. Methods: We used data from a cohort of HIV seroconverters to investigate the effect of HCV infection duration on time from HIV seroconversion to CD4 <350cells/mm3, AIDS or death, censoring at the earlier of cART initiation or last clinic visit, adjusting for confounders and splitting data into follow up periods from HIV seroconversion (<2, 2–4 and >4 years). We additionally compared CD4 cell decline following HCV infection to that of mono-infected individuals with similar HIV infection duration by fitting a random effects model. In a separate analysis, we used linear mixed models to we examine the effect of HCV infection and its duration on CD4 increase over 48 weeks following cART. Results: Of 1655 individuals, 97 (5.9%) were HCV co-infected. HCV<1 year was associated with a higher risk of endpoint in each follow-u...