Hepatitis B virus infection status and risk of type 2 diabetes mellitus: A meta-analysis

Whether hepatitis B virus (HBV) infection increases the risk of type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) is controversial. We carried out a meta-analysis to evaluate the association between HBV infection status and the risk of T2DM.

The PubMed, Embase and Ovid databases were searched for relevant studies on an association between HBV infection and the risk of diabetes. Methodological quality was assessed using the adapted Newcastle-Ottawa Quality Assessment Scale. A fix- or random-effects model was used to summarize odd ratios (OR) and 95% confidence intervals (CI).

We included seven cohort studies, four case-control and four cross-sectional studies, involving 118 530 participants. The prevalence of T2DM differs by HBV infection status. Pooled estimators indicated a nearly twofold excess T2DM risk with hepatitis B cirrhosis (HBC) status. The summary OR of the risk of T2DM for HBC patients was 1.99 (95% CI, 1.08-3.65) when compared with the non-HBV individuals, and 1.74 (95% CI, 1.43-2.13) when compared with non-cirrhotic chronic hepatitis B (NC-CHB) patients. In contrast, no significant correlation was found between asymptomatic HBV carriers or NC-CHB patients and the incidence of diabetes, compared with non-HBV controls.

Our findings suggest that while HBV itself may not be pro-diabetic, the HBV-derived cirrhosis is an independent risk factor for T2DM.