Statin drug use is beneficial in mitigating the risk of liver disease progression for HIV/hepatitis C (HCV) co-infected patients without advanced liver disease, according to a recent study. Researchers extracted clinical information from the Veterans Affairs HIV and HCV Clinical Case Registries (1999 to 2010); the cohort included 5,985 HIV/HCV co-infected veterans (the majority was black; the mean age at index date was 45 years). They found:

• Statin use was particularly protective of cirrhosis for patients with alanine aminotransferase (ALT) ≤40 IU/L; for every 30% increase in time on statin, there was a 32% decreased risk of developing cirrhosis.

• Diabetes and low-HDL were significantly associated with cirrhosis in patients with ALT >40 IU/L.

Citation: Oliver NT, Hartman CM, Kramer JR, Chiao EY. Statin drugs decrease progression to cirrhosis in HIV/HCV co-infected individuals. [Published online ahead of print August 3, 2016]. AIDS. doi:10.1097/QAD.0000000000001219.