Direct-acting antiviral agents decrease haemoglobin A1c level in patients with diabetes infected with hepatitis C...

Several epidemiologic studies have demonstrated that type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) is more prevalent in patients infected with hepatitis C virus (HCV), and the eradication of HCV has been shown to decrease the risk of T2DM. This meta-analysis was undertaken to see if treatment with direct-acting antiviral (DAA) agents would improve glycaemic control among HCV-infected patients with T2DM.

A systematic review was conducted using MEDLINE and EMBASE databases since inception to February 2018. Eligible studies must be cohort studies that recruited HCV-infected patients with T2DM and received DAA therapy. The studies must report the change of haemoglobin A1c (HbA1c) level (before vs. after DAA therapy). Patients who achieved sustained virologic response (SVR) were included in the meta-analysis. The mean HbA1c level and standard deviation of participants were extracted from each study to calculate the mean difference (MD). Pooled MD was then calculated using the random effects model.

Four cohort studies with 2648 patients were included. Among HCV-infected T2DM patients who achieved SVR with DAA agents, the mean HbA1c level after treatment was significantly lower than the mean HbA1c level before treatment, with the pooled MD of -0.50 per cent (95% confidence interval, -0.66 to -0.34, I^[2] = 77%). The main limitation of this study was the lack of comparison groups. Therefore, it could not be concluded that the observed decreased HbA1c level was a direct result of DAA therapy.

Treatment with DAA agents was found to be associated with a significant reduction of post-treatment HbA1c level compared with pre-treatment HbA1c level among T2DM patients who achieved SVR.