Important note: Information in this article was accurate in 2001. The state of the art may have changed since the publication date.
BBC News - Thursday, 6 September, 2001
Scientists cannot tell what is causing the unexpected effect, but believe it is possible that the hepatitis may be hindering the spread of HIV.
The discovery may prove to be another way doctors can attack the Aids virus.
There are several main types of virus given the hepatitis name - the best known are A, B and C, all of which can have a serious impact on human health.
However, the latest research involves hepatitis G, which was only identified in the mid 1990s, and which is not believed to cause long-term harm to patients.
In the latest issue of the New England Journal of Medicine, researchers from the University of Iowa College of Medicine in the US carried out testing in humans, and laboratory experiments.
They found that where HIV patients were also infected with hepatitis G, they tended to live longer.
More likely to die
In fact, HIV patients without hepatitis G were 3.6 times more likely to die over a two-year period than those who had the second virus.
Dr Jack Stapleton, who led the study, said: "This leads us to believe that GBV-C (hepatitis G) is one factor explaining how some people live longer and more healthily with their HIV infection than other HIV-infected people do."
Their laboratory experiments added weight to the idea that the hepatitis virus may be having a direct effect on HIV.
They put both together in a cell culture, and found that cells infected with both viruses produced 30% to 40% less HIV than those infected with only HIV.
Dr Stapleton said: "We are now working to understand precisely how GBV-C inhibits HIV from growing.
"We do not know whether GBV directly interferes with HIV, or if the GBV stimulates cellular proteins, such as interferon or immune cytokines, that protect the cells from HIV growth."
Professor John Summerfield, from St Mary's Hospital in London, said the discovery was "very exciting".
"It's a very unexpected phenomenon - certainly patients who have HIV and hepatitis B or C tend to do worse."
He said that it was uncertain whether the inhibition of the HIV was something caused directly by the hepatitis G virus, or whether people who could carry the hepatitis virus over long periods had some other as yet unknown advantage.
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