ABSTRACT
<p><b>OBJECTIVE</b>To study the influence of biological characteristics on HCV/HIV co-infection, including HIV-1 sequence distance, HIV-1 viral load and CD4+ count.</p><p><b>METHODS</b>HIV-1 sequence distance was calculated by Clustal W and Phylip software while HIV-1 viral load being tested by NASBA and CD4+ count was tested using Epics XL of Coulter. Significance was determined by t-test using SPSS 12.0.</p><p><b>RESULTS</b>The mean HIV-1 genetic distances were 7.95% and 15.73% (P < 0.001) between those with HCV co-infection and those without. Their mean HIV-1 viral loads were 4.61 and 4.45 (P = 0.522) and their mean CD4I T counts were 308 and 251 (P = 0.161), respectively.</p><p><b>CONCLUSION</b>Data showed that in the study group, the HIV/HCV co-infection had an influence on the HIV sequence distance, but did not have major impact on HIV-1 viral load and their mean CD4+ T count.</p>