Bacterial Translocation Is Associated With More Severe Liver Fibrosis in HIV/Hepatitis C-Co-Infected People

According to researchers in Madrid, Spain, intestinal bacteria in blood (bacterial translocation) is associated with more severe liver disease in persons with HIV/hepatitis C virus coinfection. To determine the association between the severity of bacterial translocation and the extent and pace of liver disease, the researchers studied 255 co-infected individuals who had undergone a liver biopsy between 2000 and 2007. One hundred blood donors who were not infected with HIV/hepatitis C were used as controls. All participants were tested for DNA of intestinal bacteria in their blood, and coinfected individuals were assessed for the stage and pace of liver fibrosis. People with more advanced fibrosis and faster progression of liver disease had higher levels of intestinal bacteria in their blood than those without the markers of liver disease. The authors concluded that bacterial translocation was associated with severe liver disease among HIV-infected patients with chronic hepatitis C. The study was reported online in the Journal of Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndromes.

[PNU Editor's Note: The study, "Bacterial DNA Translocation and Liver Disease Severity Among HIV-Infected Patients With Chronic Hepatitis C," was published ahead of the print version of the Journal of Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndromes (DOI:10.1097/QAD.0b013e318263q109, 2012)].

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