Although HIV treatment specialists have long assumed that hepatitis C coinfection slows immune system reconstitution among HIVers, a new study by researchers in North Carolina shows that hepatitis C viral replication has no impact on CD4-cell restoration. Reporting in the journal AIDS Research and Human Retroviruses, the researchers studied medical data from 322 HIVers and found no difference in CD4-cell restoration among those coinfected with HCV. Instead, poor immune system reconstitution was linked with older age, past intravenous drug use, and male gender.
