Diabetes mellitus is a significant risk factor for the development of liver cirrhosis in chronic hepatitis C patients.

We explored the association between diabetes mellitus (DM) and the risk of hepatitis C virus (HCV)-related liver cirrhosis in Chinese patients with chronic hepatitis C (CHC). To examine the link between DM and liver cirrhosis, we conducted a case-control study of 210 Chinese CHC patients diagnosed with liver cirrhosis, comparing them to an age- and sex-matched control group of 431 CHC patients without liver cirrhosis. We conducted logistic regression analyses adjusting for demographic features and liver cirrhosis risk factors, and found that DM increased the risk of developing liver cirrhosis 2-fold [adjusted odds ratio (AOR), 2.132; 95% confidence interval (CI), 1.344-3.382]. Furthermore, the proportion of liver cirrhosis patients and CHC-only patients with elevated serum triglycerides (>1.8 mmol/L) were 5.2% and 17.4%, respectively, yielding an AOR of 0.264 (95% CI, 0.135-0.517). Multivariate analyses that stratified the risk of developing HCV-related liver cirrhosis in DM patients by gender revealed that the estimated AOR (95% CI) for males was 0.415 (0.178-0.969). In conclusion, DM was associated with an increased risk of developing liver cirrhosis in CHC patients in China. Furthermore, among patients diagnosed with both CHC and DM, females had an increased risk of liver cirrhosis development.