Type 2 Diabetes Patients Have Higher Prevalence of Chronic Hepatitis B

A study has found that patients with type 2 diabetes have a higher prevalence of chronic hepatitis B virus infection (CHB). Researchers at the University Affiliated Sixth People’s Hospital in China investigated the prevalence of CHB in 381 patients with adult-onset diabetes, 1,365 patients with type 2 diabetes and 1,365 controls without diabetes. They found that patients with type 2 diabetes had a higher prevalence of CHB than the controls in the overall population (13.5 percent versus 10 percent) and among patients with normal hepatic function (13.3 percent versus 8.8 percent). However, CHB status was not different between patients with adult-onset autoimmune diabetes and the controls. The odds ratio of CHB increased 1.5-fold in patients with type 2 diabetes, compared to the control group, even after adjusting for age, gender and body mass index, regardless of hepatic function. According to the study’s authors, further research is needed to determine whether CHB status increases the risk of developing type 2 diabetes, or whether type 2 diabetes, but not adult-onset autoimmune diabetes, increases the risk of CHB.