Community-based Study of Hepatitis C Virus Infection and Type 2 Diabetes: An Association Affected by Age and Hepatitis Severity Status

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Abstract
Past studies of the relation between hepatitis C virus (HCV) infection and type 2 diabetes conflict. The authors aimed to elucidate the relation by using a large community-based sample with a wide range of liver conditions. Between October 1997 and February 1998, 2,327 consecutive subjects (aged ≥35 years) were enrolled at the public health facility in Taiwan. Blood sugar, hepatitis B surface antigen, and antibody for HCV (anti-HCV) were tested. Abdominal sonography was performed on viral-hepatitis-positive subjects. In univariate analysis, older age, lower educational levels, sedentary work, body mass index of ≥25 kg/m2, and anti-HCV positivity were significantly associated with type 2 diabetes (p < 0.05), but smoking, alcohol consumption, gender, and hepatitis B surface antigen status were not. In multivariate logistic regression, anti-HCV positivity was strongly associated with type 2 diabetes in subjects aged 35–49 years (odds ratio (OR) = 3.3, 95% confidence interval (CI): 1.4, 8.0) and 50–64-years (OR = 1.6, 95% CI: 1.1, 2.5). Sonographic evidence of fatty liver (OR = 2.4, 95% CI: 1.2, 4.8) and chronic liver disease (OR = 2.0, 95% CI: 1.0, 4.2) in anti-HCV-positive subjects was moderately associated with type 2 diabetes after age and gender adjustment. Data suggest that HCV infection is moderately associated with type 2 diabetes; the association was strongest for subjects aged 35–49 years and increased with severity of the liver condition.

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