Hepatitis C virus infection and incident type 2 diabetes

Hepatology. 2003 Jul;38(1):50-6. doi: 10.1053/jhep.2003.50291.

Abstract

Although hepatitis C virus (HCV) infection is more common among adults with type 2 diabetes, it is uncertain whether HCV precedes the development of diabetes. Thus, we performed a prospective (case-cohort) analysis to examine if persons who acquired type 2 diabetes were more likely to have had antecedent HCV infection when enrolled in a community-based cohort of men and women between the ages of 44 and 65 in the United States (Atherosclerosis Risk in Communities Study [ARIC]). Among 1,084 adults free of diabetes at baseline, 548 developed diabetes over 9 years of follow-up evaluation. Incident cases of diabetes were identified by using fasting glucose and medical history and HCV antibodies were assessed at baseline. A priori, persons were categorized as low-risk or high-risk for diabetes based on their age and body mass index, factors that appeared to modify the type 2 diabetes-HCV infection incidence estimates. The overall prevalence of HCV in this population was 0.8%. Among those at high risk for diabetes, persons with HCV infection were more than 11 times as likely as those without HCV infection to develop diabetes (relative hazard, 11.58; 95% confidence interval, 1.39-96.6). Among those at low risk, no increased incidence of diabetes was detected among HCV-infected persons (relative hazard, 0.48; 95% confidence interval, 0.05-4.40). In conclusion, pre-existing HCV infection may increase the risk for type 2 diabetes in persons with recognized diabetes risk factors. Additional larger prospective evaluations are needed to confirm these preliminary findings.

Publication types

  • Multicenter Study
  • Research Support, U.S. Gov't, P.H.S.

MeSH terms

  • Age Distribution
  • Diabetes Mellitus / epidemiology
  • Diabetes Mellitus, Type 2 / epidemiology*
  • Female
  • Hepatitis C / epidemiology*
  • Humans
  • Incidence
  • Male
  • Middle Aged
  • Obesity
  • Prevalence
  • Proportional Hazards Models
  • Prospective Studies
  • Risk Factors
  • Sex Distribution
  • United States / epidemiology