Abacavir Use May Decrease Response to HCV Therapy in Coinfected Patients

In patients coinfected with HIV and hepatitis C virus (HCV), the likelihood of achieving a sustained virologic response (SVR) to pegylated interferon and ribavirin therapy is less than 50%. Overlapping toxicities between certain antiretrovirals and anti-HCV drugs might be at least partially responsible for the poor rate of SVR observed in such patients, but few data are available to support this hypothesis. Now, an intriguing study from Spain suggests that abacavir use during HCV therapy lowers SVR rates.

Investigators reviewed data from 493 HIV/HCV-coinfected patients who were treated for HCV according to current guidelines. Of the 431 who had complete follow-up data, 62% had treatment failure (no SVR). In a multivariate analysis, the follo…