Glucose intolerance in Chinese patients with chronic hepatitis C

To investigate the prevalence and the risk factors of glucose intolerance in Chinese patients with chronic hepatitis C and to evaluate the relationship between interferon (IFN) treatment and glucose intolerance in these patients.

Prospective cross-sectional study was done to evaluate the prevalence of glucose intolerance in Chinese patients with chronic hepatitis C virus (HCV) infection from the outpatient clinic of Department of Family Medicine, Taipei Veterans General Hospital. Chronic hepatitis C was defined as persistent presence of anti-HCV and persistent elevation of liver transaminase for at least 1.5 folds for at least 6 months. Moreover, patients were further categorized into normal fasting glucose and glucose intolerance (diabetes mellitus (DM) and impaired fasting glucose) according to the diagnostic criteria of American Diabetic Association.

Totally, 359 Chinese patients with chronic hepatitis C were enrolled (212 males and 147 females, mean age=58.1+/-13.0 years). One hundred and twenty-three patients (34.3 %) had received various forms of IFN treatment. One hundred and twenty-five patients (34.6 %) had glucose intolerance, including 99 patients (27.6 %) with DM and 26 patients (7.0 %) with impaired fasting glucose. In comparison with those with normal fasting glucose levels, patients with chronic hepatitis C with glucose intolerance were significantly older, had a significantly higher body mass index, and they were more likely to suffer from obesity, to have family history of diabetes and to have had previous IFN treatment. Stepwise multivariate logistic regression revealed significantly that age >=57 years, obesity, previous history of IFN treatment and the presence of family history of diabetes were independent risk factors associated with the presence of glucose intolerance in chronic hepatitis C patients.

In conclusion, 34.6 % of Chinese patients with chronic hepatitis C had glucose intolerance. Chronic hepatitis C patients who were older in age, obese, had previous IFN treatment history and had family history of diabetes were prone to develop glucose intolerance. To our knowledge, this is the first population-based report to confirm that interferon treatment to be an independent risk factor to develop glucose intolerance.