Among a large US cohort of patients treated for hepatitis C virus (HCV), patients who achieved sustained virological response (SVR) demonstrated a substantially lower risk for development of type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2D) than patients with treatment failure. This according to a study that examined how response to HCV treatment impacts risk of subsequent T2D. Among HCV patients without a history of T2D or hepatitis B, researchers investigated incidence of T2D from 12 weeks post-HCV-treatment through December 2015. They found:

• Among 5,127 patients with an average follow-up of 3.7 years, T2D incidence was significantly lower among patients who achieved SVR than among patients with treatment failure (6.2% vs 21.7%).
• Risk of T2D was higher among African American and Asian American patients vs white patients (adjusted hazard ratio [aHR], 1.82 and 1.75, respectively).
• Patients with body mass index (BMI) ≥30 and 25-20 demonstrated higher risk than those with BMI <25.
• Cirrhosis at baseline was also a risk factor.