Three Cups Of Coffee Reduces Mortality Risk in HIV Patients

Highlights

• Drinking three or more cups of coffee everyday halves mortality risk in those infected by both human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) and hepatitis C virus (HCV).
• Though //treating HCV is fundamental in HIV patients, quitting smoking further improves survival rate.
• Treating HCV is crucial because, it reduces the overall mortality by 80%.

Drinking at least three cups of coffee each day halved the risk of all-cause mortality in those infected with human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) and hepatitis C virus (HCV). HIV infection increases the risk of HCV which is a specific risk of end-stage liver disease and greater risk of cardiovascular diseases and cancer.

HIV infection also accelerates the progression of chronic hepatitis C to fibrosis and development of cirrhosis and end-stage liver disease. Treating both the conditions is equally important but HCV is the priority as it eventually disrupts liver functions.

Coffee For HIV-HCV Co-infection

The study is the first of its kind to investigate the relationship between coffee consumption and the risk of all-cause mortality in HIV-HCV co-infected patients.

"This is a very exciting time for HCV research as a cure that can eradicate the virus is now available for all patients," explained lead investigator Dominique Salmon-Céron, Université Paris Descartes, Paris, France.

Due to an accelerated aging process that may result from cancer, complications related to diabetes and to liver disease, and from cardiovascular events even when cured of HCV, patients co-infected with HIV have a higher risk of death compared to the general population.

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Coffee contain polyphenols that are known to have anti-inflammatory and liver-protective properties. Drinking three or more cups of coffee a day has been found to be associated with a 14% reduction in the risk of all-cause mortality in the general population. The same was tested in HIV-HCV co-infected patients.

Data from ANRS CO13-HEPAVIH cohort used data from 1,028 HIV-HCV co-infected patients. They were followed for 5 years and details about both medical and psychosocial/behaviors was collected over time via annual self-administered questionnaires.

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At enrollment, one in four patients reported drinking at least three cups of coffee daily. Over the five years, 77 deaths occurred, almost half attributable to hepatitis C. However, the mortality risk was 80% lower in those who were cured of (i.e. who "cleared") hepatitis C.

Study Findings

Drinking at least three cups of coffee daily was associated with a 50% reduction in mortality risk even after taking into account HCV clearance, HIV- and HCV-related factors, and other sociobehavioral factors, such as having a steady partner and not smoking.

This research highlights the importance of behaviors on reduced mortality risk. These results can help promote behavioral changes in HIV-HCV patients, which in turn can result in improved survival. With respect to coffee consumption, individuals who do not drink coffee because of caffeine can still benefit from the comparable anti-inflammatory effects of decaffeinated coffee.

First author Maria Patrizia Carrieri, said, "The results of our study show that while curing HCV is fundamental, it must be complemented by behavioral changes if we are to improve health and survival in HIV-infected patients whether or not they cleared HCV.”

The exact mechanism remains unknown and so coffee extracts and supplementing dietary intake with other anti-inflammatory compounds need to be evaluated in HIV-HCV patients.

Reference

1. Maria Patrizia Carrieri et al., Protective effect of coffee consumption on all-cause mortality of French HIV-HCV co-infected patients, Journal of Hepatology (2017) http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.jhep.2017.08.005.

Source-Medindia