Markers of Insulin Resistance during HVC Treatment: A Relationship to Sustained Virologic Response

Abstract

A major complication of Hepatitis C Virus (HCV) is Insulin Resistance (IR), which consequently results in Diabetes Mellitus (DM). The aim of our study was to determine effects of HCV treatment on IR by monitoring three IR indicators in the serum: glucose, insulin, and c‐peptide. Patients diagnosed with genotype 1 HCV, were grouped by sustained viral response (SVR) into non‐responders and responders. Serum samples collected at the time of diagnosis and eight weeks into treatment were analyzed by ELISA for c‐peptide and insulin and by o‐toluidine reaction for glucose. Significant decrease was observed in the glucose concentrations in patients with SVR, whereas the non‐responder group showed a significant increase in insulin concentration. In addition, none of the non‐responders displayed a decrease in either C‐peptide or insulin levels over 8 weeks of treatment, whereas over half of the responder group showed improvement in both. These data offer promising evidence of a possible connection between SVR and IR. This study was partly supported by the Liver Disease Outcomes Fund of the Center for Liver Diseases at Inova Fairfax Hospital, and a Seed Grant from the Inova Health System.