Concomitant highly active antiretroviral therapy leads to smaller decline and faster recovery of CD4+ cell counts during and after pegylated interferon plus ribavirin therapy in HIV-hepatitis C virus coinfected patients.

Background: The impact of highly active antiretroviral therapy (HAART) on CD4+ cell course during treatment with pegylated interferon plus ribavirin (PegIFN-RBV) in patients coinfected with human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) and hepatitis C virus (HCV) is unknown.

Methods: We determined CD4(+) cell count in 94 HIV-HCV coinfected patients undergoing treatment with pegylated interferon plus RBV at baseline, treatment weeks 4-48 (W4-W48), and months 1, 3, and 6 of follow-up. Of the 94 patients, 70 underwent concomitant HAART (group A) and 24 did not (group B).

Results: Group A showed smaller CD4(+) cell decreases from W24-W48 (P = .027) and greater CD4(+) cell increases after cessation of pegylated interferon plus ribavirin therapy (P = .002) than group B showed.

Conclusions: Concomitant HAART leads to smaller decreases and faster recovery of CD4(+) cells during and after pegylated interferon plus RBV therapy.