OBJECTIVETo investigate the incidence of hepatotoxicity in acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS) patients on combined anti-retroviral therapy (cART) containing nevirapine (NVP) and to assess the risk factors and its impact on cART.

METHODS330 AIDS patients from March 2003 to June 2008 at local county were enrolled and a retrospective study using Kaplan-meier survival and Multivariate logistic regression modeling was conducted.

RESULTS267 out of 330 patients received NVP based cART and 63 cases received EFV-based cART. The deference of prevalences of hepatotoxicity between the two groups is statistically significant (Chi2 = 6.691, P = 0.01). 133 out of 267 (49.8%) patients on NVP based cART had at least one episode of ALT elevation during a median 21 months (interquartile ranges, IQR 6, 37) follow-up time, amounts for 28.5 cases per 100 person-years. Baseline ALT elevation (OR = 14.368, P = 0.017)and HCV co-infection (OR = 3.009, P = 0.000) were risk factors for cART related hepatotoxicity, while greatly increased CD4+ T(CD4) cell count was protective against hepatotoxicity development (OR = 0.996, P = 0.000). Patients co-infected with HCV received NVP-based cART had the higher probability of hepatotoxicity than those without HCV co-infection (Log rank: Chi2 = 16.764, P = 0.000). 23 out of the 133 subjects (17.3%) with NVP related hepatotoxicity discontinued cART temporarily or shifted NVP to efavirenz.

CONCLUSIONNVP related hepatotoxicity was common among ARV naive HIV infected subjects in our cohort. Baseline ALT elevation and HCV co-infection were associated statistically with the development of hepatotoxicity. Hepatotoxicity led to discontinuing cART temporarily or switching to other regimens in some subjects. It suggested that NVP should be used with caution in patients co-infected with HCV among whom anti-HCV therapy before cART initiation may contribute to minimizing the probability of NVP associated hepatotoxicity.