ASSOCIATION OF OBESITY WITH RAPID VIROLOGICAL RESPONSE IN PATIENTS WITH CHRONIC HEPATITIS C

Abstract

Objective: To determine the association of obesity with rapid virological response
in patients with chronic hepatitis C on antiviral therapy.
Methodology: In this prospective cohort study patients suffering from chronic
hepatitis C who required treatment were included after getting ethical approval
and informed consent. Patient's weight and height was measured and body
mass index (BMI) was calculated. Patients were divided into 2 groups; group
1 having BMI <30 and group 2 having BMI >30 in equal numbers. All the patients
were put on weekly pegylated interferon plus ribavirin in fixed divided
doses. PCR was done at the completion of 4 week to check for rapid virological
response (RVR). After completion of study these 2 groups were compared to
see whether any significant association exists between BMI and RVR. RVR was
also stratified among age, viral load and gender to see their effect as these are
potential effect modifiers.
Results: There were 140 (56.3 %) male and 110 (43.7%) female patients with
male to female ratio of 1.2:1. Mean age of the patients was 39.78 ±9.85, while
mean BMI was 27.40 ±5.86. Overall the RVR was achieved in 53.2% of the patients.
Frequency of RVR was 77(61.6 %) in non-obese patients as compared to
56(44.8%) in obese patients with a p value of 0.008.
Conclusion: Obesity is significantly associated with poor RVR in patients with
chronic hepatitis C.