Study on the rates of infection and spontaneous clearance on HCV among HIV-infected men who have sex with men in China

• Published in: Zhōnghuá liúxíngbìng zázhì Vol. 34; no. 1; p. 15
• Main Authors: An, Ming-hui, Han, Xiao-xu, Liu, Jing, Wu, Hao, Chen, Xi, Lu, Lin, Xu, Jun-jie, Zhang, Min, Shang, Hong
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: Chinese
• Published: China 01.01.2013
• Subjects: Adult; China - epidemiology; Coinfection - epidemiology; Coinfection - virology; Hepacivirus; Hepatitis C - epidemiology; Hepatitis C - virology; HIV Seropositivity; HIV-1; Homosexuality, Male; Humans; Male; Remission, Spontaneous; RNA, Viral - blood; Viral Load; Young Adult; China
• ISSN: 0254-6450

The aim of this study was to understand the rates of infection and spontaneous clearance on hepatitis C virus (HCV) among HIV-infected men who have sex with men (MSM) in China. HIV-infected MSM from Shenyang, Beijing, Changsha and Kunming were selected to take the HCV antibody and HVC-RNA tests, and then classified into 'under recovery (RNA-/Ab+) ' or being chronic (RNA+/Ab+). Information on demography, CD4(+) T cell, HIV viral load and liver biochemical indicators were also collected. In 513 HIV-infected MSM, the positive rate of HCV antibody was 1.94% (10/513) and the positive rate of HVC-RNA was 0.77% (4/513). Five patients showed clearance of HVC-RNA, spontaneously. These 5 patients had low levels of both alanine transaminase (ALT) and aspartate aminotransferase (AST), and with high level of CD4(+) T cells, when compared to those who were not able to clear the HVC-RNA. Currently, the HCV infection rate was still at quite low level among the HIV-infected MSM in China. Dynamic of HIV/HCV co-infection should