Impact of HCV elimination on metabolism markers in people living with HIV

Coinfection with hepatitis C virus (HCV) and human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) alter lipid and glucose metabolism mediated by cytokines release. Our aim was to assess the evolution in metabolic plasmatic markers of people living with HIV (PLHIV) after HCV elimination either spontaneously or with direct active antivirals (DAAs). Multicenter prospective study of 116 HIV patients: i) HCV chronically infected patients (CHC) = 45; ii) Spontaneous clarifiers (SC) = 36; and iii) HIV control group = 35. HCV-exposed patients were all studied at baseline and 48 weeks after achieving sustained virological response (SVR). Plasma levels of 14 metabolic biomarkers were measured. Differences between groups were evaluated by statistical methods. At baseline, CHC patients showed higher levels of adiponectin, NGAL and sICAM-1, than the control group. After achieving SVR, the CHC group showed a significant decrease in the 3 cytokines that were increased at baseline: adiponectin, NGAL and sICAM. In contrast, there was an increase in cortisol. After the end of the follow-up CHC showed normalization of all measured markers that were increased at baseline. Any changes were observed in the same follow-up period for the SC group. Chronically coinfected HIV + /HCV + patients showed altered levels in lipid and glucose metabolism compared to HIV monoinfected subjects and spontaneous clearers. The elimination of chronic HCV infection by DAAs normalized the metabolism profile except for cortisol that remains increased after reaching RSV compared to levels observed in the HCV-/HIV + group. Spontaneous clarification of HCV did not modify metabolism biomarkers in these patients.