Agreement and diagnostic differences among three definitions of sarcopenia in patients with chronic hepatitis C.

BACKGROUND: There is neither a gold standard definition nor a universal consensus to diagnose sarcopenia in patients with chronic hepatitis C. Thus, we aimed to compare the prevalence of sarcopenia and the agreement and discrepancies between European Working Group on Sarcopenia in Older People (EWGSOP1), EWGSOP2, and Foundation for the National Institutes of Health Biomarkers Consortium Sarcopenia Project (FNIH) definitions in chronic hepatitis C. METHODS: Dual-energy x-ray absorptiometry was used to assess muscle mass by quantifying appendicular lean mass (ALM) adjusted for squared height (ALM/ht2) or for body mass index (ALMBMI). Muscle function was evaluated by handgrip strength. Subjective Global Assessment was used to assess the nutrition status. RESULTS: This cross-sectional study included 103 outpatients (mean age, 50.6 ± 11.3 years; 33.0% with compensated cirrhosis). Sarcopenia prevalence was 8.7%, 9.7%, and 9.7%, according to EWGSOP1, EWGSOP2, and FNIH definitions, respectively. There was neither a sex- nor a liver disease severity-specific difference in the prevalence of sarcopenia between the criteria applied. Sixteen (15.5%) patients fulfilled at least one of these criteria, and 3 out of 16 (18.8%) simultaneously had sarcopenia by consensus of the three criteria. Sarcopenic obesity was identified in 9 out of 16 (56.3%) patients, and 6 out of 9 (66.7%) of these only met FNIH consensus. CONCLUSIONS: In patients without cirrhosis or with compensated cirrhosis, and with chronic hepatitis C, the agreement between EWGSOP1 and EWGSOP2 classifications was substantial for sarcopenia diagnosis. Concerning EWGSOP and FNIH criteria, a fair agreement and limited overlap were found in these patients.

Interleukin-6-174G/C polymorphism is associated with a decreased risk of type 2 diabetes in patients with chronic hepatitis C virus.

BACKGROUND: Chronic hepatitis C (CHC) is associated with type 2 diabetes mellitus. Although the pathogenesis remains to be elucidated, a growing evidence has suggested a role of pro-inflammatory immune response. Increased serum concentrations of Interleukin 6 (IL-6) have been associated with insulin resistance, type 2 diabetes mellitus as well as advanced forms of liver disease in chronic hepatitis C infection. AIM: To investigate the frequency of IL-6-174G/C (rs1800795) single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) in CHC patients and in healthy subjects of the same ethnicity. Associations between type 2 diabetes mellitus (dependent variable) and demographic, clinical, nutritional, virological and, IL-6 genotyping data were also investigated in CHC patients. METHODS: Two hundred and forty-five patients with CHC and 179 healthy control subjects (blood donors) were prospectively included. Type 2 diabetes mellitus was diagnosed according to the criteria of the American Diabetes Association. Clinical, biochemical, histological and radiological methods were used for the diagnosis of the liver disease. IL-6 polymorphism was evaluated by Taqman SNP genotyping assay. The data were analysed by logistic regression models. RESULTS: Type 2 diabetes mellitus, blood hypertension and liver cirrhosis were observed in 20.8% (51/245), 40.0% (98/245) and 38.4% (94/245) of the patients, respectively. The frequency of the studied IL-6 SNP did not differ between the CHC patients and controls (P = 0.81) and all alleles were in Hardy-Weinberg equilibrium (P = 0.38). In the multivariate analysis, type 2 diabetes mellitus was inversely associated with GC and CC genotypes of IL-6-174 (OR = 0.42; 95%CI = 0.22-0.78; P = 0.006) and positively associated with blood hypertension (OR = 5.56; 95%CI = 2.79-11.09; P < 0.001). CONCLUSION: This study was the first to show that GC and CC genotypes of IL-6-174 SNP are associated with a decreased risk of type 2 diabetes mellitus in patients chronically infected with hepatitis C virus. The identification of potential inflammatory mediators involved in the crosstalk between hepatitis C virus and the axis pancreas-liver remains important issues that deserve further investigations.