Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
. 2022 Oct 1;36(12):1689-1696.
doi: 10.1097/QAD.0000000000003314. Epub 2022 Jul 15.

Tenofovir disoproxil fumarate and coronavirus disease 2019 outcomes in men with HIV

Guilin Li  1   2 , Lesley S Park  3 , Sara Lodi  1   4 , Roger W Logan  1   2 , Emily J Cartwright  5   6 , Lydia Aoun-Barakat  7 , Juan P Casas  8   9   10 , Barbra A Dickerman  1   2 , Christopher T Rentsch  11   12   13 , Amy C Justice  12   14   15 , Miguel A Hernán  1   2   16
Affiliations

Tenofovir disoproxil fumarate and coronavirus disease 2019 outcomes in men with HIV

Guilin Li et al. AIDS. .

Abstract

Objective: To compare the risk of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) outcomes by antiretroviral therapy (ART) regimens among men with HIV.

Design: We included men with HIV on ART in the Veterans Aging Cohort Study who, between February 2020 and October 2021, were 18 years or older and had adequate virological control, CD4 + cell count, and HIV viral load measured in the previous 12 months, and no previous COVID-19 diagnosis or vaccination.

Methods: We compared the adjusted risks of documented severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) infection, COVID-19-related hospitalization, and intensive care unit (ICU) admission by baseline ART regimen: tenofovir alafenamide (TAF)/emtricitabine (FTC), tenofovir disoproxil fumarate (TDF)/FTC, abacavir (ABC)/lamivudine (3TC), and other. We fit pooled logistic regressions to estimate the 18-month risks standardized by demographic and clinical factors.

Results: Among 20 494 eligible individuals, the baseline characteristics were similar across regimens, except that TDF/FTC and TAF/FTC had lower prevalences of chronic kidney disease and estimated glomerular filtration rate <60 ml/min. Compared with TAF/FTC, the estimated 18-month risk ratio (95% confidence interval) of documented SARS-CoV-2 infection was 0.65 (0.43, 0.89) for TDF/FTC, 1.00 (0.85, 1.18) for ABC/3TC, and 0.87 (0.70, 1.04) for others. The corresponding risk ratios for COVID-19 hospitalization were 0.43 (0.07, 0.87), 1.09 (0.79, 1.48), and 1.21 (0.88, 1.62). The risk of COVID-19 ICU admission was lowest for TDF/FTC, but the estimates were imprecise.

Conclusion: Our study suggests that, in men living with HIV, TDF/FTC may protect against COVID-19-related events. Randomized trials are needed to investigate the effectiveness of TDF as prophylaxis for, and early treatment of, COVID-19 in the general population.

PubMed Disclaimer

Figures

Appendix Figure 1.
Appendix Figure 1.
Comparison of trends of COVID-19 cases in the study population and in the United States
Appendix Figure 2.
Appendix Figure 2.
The number of SARS-CoV-2 tests proportional to persons under follow-up in each month by treatment groups
Figure 1.
Figure 1.
Flowchart of eligible persons with HIV, Veterans Aging Cohort Study, February 2020 – October 2021
Figure 2.
Figure 2.
Standardized 18-month cumulative risk curves for COVID-19 outcomes by NRTI combination in men with HIV, Veterans Aging Cohort Study, February 2020 – October 2021
See this image and copyright information in PMC

Similar articles

See all similar articles

Cited by

See all "Cited by" articles

References

    1. World Health Organization. Consolidated guidelines on HIV prevention, testing, treatment, service delivery and monitoring: recommendations for a public health approach. 2021. - PubMed
    1. Del Amo J, Polo R, Moreno S, Díaz A, Martínez E, Arribas JR, et al. Incidence and Severity of COVID-19 in HIV-Positive Persons Receiving Antiretroviral Therapy : A Cohort Study. Ann Intern Med 2020; 173(7):536–541. - PMC - PubMed
    1. Del Amo J, Polo R, Moreno S, Martínez E, Cabello A, Iribarren J, et al. Tenofovir Disoproxil Fumarate and severity of COVID-19 in people with HIV infection [preprint] medRxiv 2021:2021.2011.2011..
    1. Western Cape Department of Health in collaboration with the National Institute for Communicable Diseases SA. Risk Factors for Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) Death in a Population Cohort Study from the Western Cape Province, South Africa. Clinical infectious diseases : an official publication of the Infectious Diseases Society of America 2021; 73(7):e2005–e2015. - PMC - PubMed
    1. Munoz B, Buti M, Vazquez I, Conde M, Monterde V, Diaz F, et al. Tenofovir reduces the severity of COVID-19 infection in chronic hepatitis B patients [abstract]. Journal of Hepatology 2021:S746–S747.

Publication types