Association of Hepatitis C Virus Infection and Type 2 Diabetes in Egypt: A Hospital-Based Study

Background: The relation between hepatitis C virus (HCV) infection and the development of type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) remains unknown. The aim of this study was to investigate the presence of an association between T2DM and HCV. Methods: A case control study was conducted at the outpatients’ clinics of Kasr El-Aini Hospital (KAH), from October 2013 till March 2014. In this study, 389 HCV patients were selected as cases and 389 healthy controls were also included. Demographic and clinical data were collected using a structured questionnaire. Laboratory investigations including liver function tests (LFT), blood glucose level and radioimmunoblot assay (ELISA) were performed. Results: Out of 389 HCV cases, 219 (56.3%) were diabetic, whereas 145 (37.3%) were diabetic among the healthy controls. Occurrence of diabetes among cirrhotic patients was 1.7 times higher than non-cirrhotic. Logistic regression showed that residence (P < 0.001, OR = 2.7), occupation (P = 0.03, OR = 1.8), and smoking (P = 0.04, OR = 2) were the predictive factors for occurrence of T2DM in HCV patients. Conclusions: In this study, we found a positive association between HCV infection and T2DM. Residence, occupation and smoking were the predictive factors for the association of T2DM in HCV patients, whereas hypertension and BMI were only adjunctive factors.