3 Cups of Coffee A Day Could Halve Mortality in HIV/Hep C Patients

Drinking at least 3 cups of coffee a day could halve the risk of all-cause mortality in individuals infected with both HIV and hepatitis C virus (HCV), according to the results of a recent study.

Previous research has suggested anti-inflammatory and hepato-protective properties of coffee in the general population, but less is known about its effects on HIV-HCV co-infected individuals.
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The researchers used Cox proportional hazards models to estimate the effects of elevated coffee consumption (3 or more cups a day) at baseline on all-cause mortality during a 5-year follow-up period in 1028 participants in the ANRS CO13 HEPAVIH cohort.

Overall, 77 deaths occurred, with HCV-related diseases, cancers unrelated to AIDS/HCV, and AIDS as the leading causes of death. Coffee consumption of 3 or more cups a day was associated with a 50% reduction in the risk of all-cause mortality after adjustment for gender and psychosocial, behavioral, and clinical time-varying factors.

“The benefits of coffee extracts and supplementing dietary intake with other anti-inflammatory compounds need to be evaluated in this population,” the researchers concluded.

—Michael Potts

Reference:

Carrieri MP, Protopopescu C, Marvellin F, et al. Protective effect of coffee consumption on all-cause mortality of French HIV-HCV co-infected patients [published online September 21, 2017]. Hepatology. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.jhep.2017.08.005.