Early diagnosis and risk factors of acute hepatitis C in high-risk MSM on preexposure prophylaxis.

BACKGROUND: A high incidence of acute hepatitis C virus (HCV) (AHCV) infection has been reported among at-risk HIV-negative MSM. The optimal strategy for early diagnosis of AHCV in this population is not clearly defined. METHODS: In the ANRS IPERGAY PrEP trial, among high-risk HIV-negative MSM, HCV serology and serum alanine aminotransferase (ALT) were used for screening at enrollment and during follow-up. Behavioral risk factors were compared at baseline between participants who were diagnosed with AHCV during the study compared with those who did not. In participants with a positive HCV serology, we used stored sera to perform the following tests at diagnosis and on previous visits: HCV-antibodies rapid tests, plasma HCV viral load and HCV antigen immunoassay. We evaluated the sensitivity of each test for AHCV diagnosis. RESULTS: Among 429 enrolled participants, 14 were diagnosed with AHCV infection, with a median follow-up of 2.1 (interquartile range, 1.5-2.8) years. AHCV incidence was 1.40 per 100 person-years (95% confidence interval, 0.74-2.39). Patients with AHCV reported a significantly higher number of sexual acts and/or partners, and more frequent recreational drug use at baseline. At the prior visit before AHCV diagnosis (median of 2 months earlier), sensitivities of HCV RNA and HCV antigen tests were, respectively, 100 and 89%, whereas none of the patients had a positive serology, and only 25% had elevated ALT. CONCLUSION: HCV antigen and RNA tests were positive within a median of 2 months before the detection of antibodies and ALT elevation. These tests could be considered for HCV screening in high-risk MSM.

Efficacy of darunavir/ritonavir maintenance monotherapy in patients with HIV-1 viral suppression: a randomized open-label, noninferiority trial, MONOI-ANRS 136.

BACKGROUND: Darunavir/ritonavir (darunavir/r) maintenance strategy, in patients with suppressed HIV RNA viremia, is a potential long-term strategy to avoid nucleoside analogue toxicities and to reduce costs. METHODS: MONOtherapy Inhibitor protease is a prospective, open-label, noninferiority, 96-week safety and efficacy trial in virologically suppressed patients on triple therapy who were randomized to a darunavir/r triple drug regimen or darunavir/r monotherapy. The primary endpoint was the proportion of patients with HIV RNA less than 400 copies/ml at week 48; treatment failure was defined as two consecutive HIV RNA more than 400 copies/ml (time to loss of virologic response) or any change in treatment. The trial had 80% power to show noninferiority for the monotherapy arm (delta =-10%, 90% confidence interval). RESULTS: A total of 242 patients were screened, 225 of whom were randomized. In the per protocol efficacy analysis, treatment success was 99% on darunavir/r triple drug versus 94% on darunavir/r monotherapy (delta = -4.9%, 90% confidence interval, from -9.1 to -0.8). Similar results were found in intent-to-treat population (92 versus 87.5%, delta = -4.5%, 90% confidence interval from -11.2 to 2.1). Three patients experienced virologic failure on darunavir/monotherapy and none on darunavir/r triple drug. No resistance to protease inhibitor emerged in patients with plasma viral load above 50 copies/ml. The two groups did not differ in the number of serious adverse events. CONCLUSION: Darunavir/r monotherapy exhibited efficacy rate over 85% with concordant results in the magnitude of difference with darunavir/r triple drug regimen in both intent-to-treat and per protocol analyses, but discordant conclusions with respect to the noninferiority margin. Patients failing on darunavir/r monotherapy had no emergence of new darunavir resistance mutations preserving future treatment options.