Effect of Hepatitis G Virus Infection on Progression of HIV Infection in Patients with Hemophilia [Yeo AET, et al. Ann Intern Med 2000;132:959]: This is a study from the Multicenter Hemophilia Cohort Study to determine the effect of hepatitis G virus infection on the natural history of HIV in patients with co-infection. The course of HIV during a 16-year follow-up period after HIV seroconversion was studied in 60 patients with positive serology for HGV, including 22 with HGV RNA, and compared with the course of HIV infection among 71 patients who did not have HGV. The results showed that the mean CD4 cell count was 211 cells/mm³ higher in the group with HGV, and the risk for AIDS was 40% lower in this group. These differences are statistically significant and are independent of age, HIV viral loads, HCV viral loads, and CCR5 genotype.
Comment: HGV was first reported in 1996 [Science 1996;271:505]. Initial studies showed that this virus is found in 1 - 2% of healthy blood donors and 10 - 20% of patients at risk for blood-borne pathogens. The prevalence of antibody was 2 - 4 times higher than the frequency of HGV RNA, indicating that a significant number of patients, 25 - 50%, became chronically infected [NEJM 1997;336:747]. The initial impression was that this virus was an important cause of viral hepatitis, especially in unexplained cases associated with transfusions. Subsequent work has exonerated HGV as a significant cause of hepatitis, and it now appears to be a virus in search of a disease [NEJM 1997;337:277]. The present report seems to show a protective effect of HGV on progression of HIV. Similar results were previously reported [JID 1999;179:783]. The source of this benefit is not clear. posted 7/3/2000