As
reported in the October 2007 American Journal of Gastroenterology, researchers
from Hospital Universitari Vall d'Hebron in Barcelona, Spain, retrospectively
analyzed whether impaired fasting glucose and type 2 diabetes influenced the response
to antiviral therapy with interferon plus ribavirin in 178 treatment-naive patients
with chronic hepatitis C. Fasting plasma glucose was measured prior to starting
interferon-based therapy.
Results
•
Compared with the 111 non-responders, the 67 patients who achieved sustained
virological response (SVR) had lower plasma glucose (94.1 vs 104.4 mg/dL;
P= 0.001) and a lower prevalence of glucose abnormalities (24.2% vs 44.1%; P=
0.012).
•
The SVR rate was 45.1%
among the 113 patients with normal blood glucose, 28.3% among the 46 patients
with impaired fasting glucose, and 15.8% among the 19 subjects with type 2 diabetes.
•
Multivariate logistic
regression analysis identified HCV genotype 1 (OR 1.55; P= 0.05), GGT level (OR
6.41; P= 0.003), and presence of glucose abnormalities (OR 2.33; P= 0.039) as
independent predictors of failure to achieve SVR.
•
Further, 65 patients
with glucose abnormalities had a lower virological response rate when compared
with a subgroup of 65 patients with normal blood glucose parameters matched for
sex, age, and degree of liver fibrosis (24.6% vs 44.6%, respectively; P= 0.001).
Conclusion
In
conclusion, the authors wrote, "Glucose abnormalities are an independent
predictor of poor virological response to combined therapy in hepatitis C virus
infected patients."
10/12/07
Reference A
Lecube, C Hernandez, R Simo, and others. Glucose Abnormalities Are an Independent
Risk Factor for Nonresponse to Antiviral Treatment in Chronic Hepatitis C. Am
J Gastroenterol 102(10): 2189-2195. October 2007.
