Hepatitis C Treatment by Directly Acting Antiviral Agents and Its Impact on Glycemic Control

Objective: To evaluate Hepatitis C treatment by directly acting antiviral agents and its impact on glycemic control.

Study Design: This is an observational study.

Setting: This study was conducted in Medicine department Civil Hospital Karachi from March 2018 to December 2019.

Materials and Methods: Patients visiting the outpatient department of the hospital having documented HCV infection having type 2 diabetes mellitus were included in the study. All participants were given directly acting antiviral treatment for 12 weeks. After treatment they were assessed for achievement of sustained virological response (SVR). Pre-treatment and post treatment fasting blood glucose levels and HbA1c levels were checked. SVR is defined as serum HCV RNA which is undetectable (<50IU/ml) after 12 weeks of antiviral treatment.

Results: Around 332 patients matched our inclusion criteria. Amongst these there were 219 males and 113 females. The mean age of patients was 39.44 ± 2.19 years. All the selected participants started therapy on Sofosbuvir-velpatasvir (pangenotypic NS5A-NS5B inhibitor single-pill combination regimen that has potent activity against hepatitis C virus (HCV) genotypes 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, and 6.) plus ribavirin. After treatment with directly acting antiviral therapy 231 (69.57%) patients achieved sustained virological response. Patients who achieved SVR showed improved glycaemic control than those who didn’t. Patients with cirrhosis showed decreased chances of attainment of SVR. Fasting blood glucose levels and HbA1c were also decreased, decreasing the amount of insulin required for diabetes control.

Conclusion: Our study showed that treatment with directly acting antiviral treatment improved glycaemic control in HCV infected patients. Other factors like BMI, presence of cirrhosis, mean serum HCV RNA levels and adherence to treatment were major predictors for achievement of SVR.