Liver fibrosis in treatment-na ïve HIV-infected and HIV/HBV co-infected patients: Zambia and Switzerland compared

The increasing availability of antiretroviral therapy (ART) for HIV-infected individuals has led to a dramatic reduction in AIDS-related mortality and to the emergence of liver-related complications of hepatitis B virus (HBV) and hepatitis C virus (HCV) infections as a major cause of death.1 Worldwide, HBV infection is the single most important cause of liver cirrhosis and causes over 50% of cases of hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC).2 HIV infection accelerates the progression of HBV-related liver fibrosis, especially if cellular immunity is impaired or in the absence of adequate treatment of HBV infection.

Source: International Journal of Infectious Diseases - September 1, 2016 Category: Infectious Diseases Authors: Gilles Wandeler, Lloyd Mulenga, Michael J. Vinikoor, Helen Kovari, Manuel Battegay, Alexandra Calmy, Matthias Cavassini, Enos Bernasconi, Patrick Schmid, Carolyn Bolton-Moore, Edford Sinkala, Benjamin H. Chi, Matthias Egger, Andri Rauch, for IeDEA-Souther Source Type: research