Interferon-based therapy reduces risk of stroke in chronic hepatitis C patients: A population-based cohort study in Taiwan

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 10⁶ 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.