BACKGROUND: Hepatitis C virus (HCV) infection has been linked to an increased risk of insulin resistance and carotid atherosclerosis. AIM: To investigate the association between HCV infection and stroke, and the effect of interferon-based therapy (IBT) on stroke risk in chronic hepatitis C (CHC) patients. METHODS: We conducted a retrospective cohort study that followed up 3113 subjects with a newly detected HCV infection and 12 452 age- and gender-matched subjects without HCV infection selected from a random sample of 10(6) beneficiaries from the Taiwan National Health Insurance Program up to 5 years. Use of IBT was defined as treatment with interferon alpha, pegylated interferon alpha-2a or pegylated interferon alpha-2b for at least 3 months. The hazard ratio (HR) for newly detected stroke was calculated for subjects with HCV compared to those without HCV, and for IBT-treated HCV patients compared to non-IBT-treated HCV patients while adjusting for possible confounding factors. RESULTS: The overall person-years of follow-up were 8624.11 in patients with HCV, 54,533.69 in patients without HCV, 666.65 in IBT-treated patients, and 7886.49 in nontreated patients. The multivariable-adjusted hazard ratio (HR) for newly detected stroke was 1.23 for subjects with HCV compared to the age- and sex-matched subjects without HCV (adjusted HR = 1.23, 95% CI = 1.06-1.42, P = 0.008). Moreover, use of IBT significantly reduced the risk of stroke in HCV patients (adjusted HR = 0.39, 95% CI = 0.16-0.95, P = 0.039) after adjusting for known prognostic factors. CONCLUSIONS: Interferon-based therapy may reduce the long-term risk of stroke in patients with chronic HCV infection.
BACKGROUND:Hepatitis C virus (HCV) infection has been linked to an increased risk of insulin resistance and carotid atherosclerosis. AIM: To investigate the association between HCV infection and stroke, and the effect of interferon-based therapy (IBT) on stroke risk in chronic hepatitis C (CHC) patients. METHODS: We conducted a retrospective cohort study that followed up 3113 subjects with a newly detected HCV infection and 12 452 age- and gender-matched subjects without HCV infection selected from a random sample of 10(6) beneficiaries from the Taiwan National Health Insurance Program up to 5 years. Use of IBT was defined as treatment with interferon alpha, pegylated interferon alpha-2a or pegylated interferon alpha-2b for at least 3 months. The hazard ratio (HR) for newly detected stroke was calculated for subjects with HCV compared to those without HCV, and for IBT-treated HCVpatients compared to non-IBT-treated HCVpatients while adjusting for possible confounding factors. RESULTS: The overall person-years of follow-up were 8624.11 in patients with HCV, 54,533.69 in patients without HCV, 666.65 in IBT-treated patients, and 7886.49 in nontreated patients. The multivariable-adjusted hazard ratio (HR) for newly detected stroke was 1.23 for subjects with HCV compared to the age- and sex-matched subjects without HCV (adjusted HR = 1.23, 95% CI = 1.06-1.42, P = 0.008). Moreover, use of IBT significantly reduced the risk of stroke in HCVpatients (adjusted HR = 0.39, 95% CI = 0.16-0.95, P = 0.039) after adjusting for known prognostic factors. CONCLUSIONS: Interferon-based therapy may reduce the long-term risk of stroke in patients with chronic HCV infection.
Authors: Parag Mahale; Eric A Engels; Ruosha Li; Harrys A Torres; Lu-Yu Hwang; Eric L Brown; Jennifer R Kramer Journal: Gut Date: 2017-06-20 Impact factor: 23.059
Authors: Umberto Vespasiani-Gentilucci; Paolo Gallo; Antonio De Vincentis; Giovanni Galati; Antonio Picardi Journal: World J Gastroenterol Date: 2014-03-21 Impact factor: 5.742
Authors: Antonio De Vincentis; Astrid Ursula Behr; Giuseppe Bellelli; Marco Bravi; Anna Castaldo; Lucia Galluzzo; Giovanni Iolascon; Stefania Maggi; Emilio Martini; Alberto Momoli; Graziano Onder; Marco Paoletta; Luca Pietrogrande; Mauro Roselli; Mauro Ruggeri; Carmelinda Ruggiero; Fabio Santacaterina; Luigi Tritapepe; Amedeo Zurlo; Raffaele Antonelli Incalzi Journal: Aging Clin Exp Res Date: 2021-07-21 Impact factor: 3.636