A Systematic Review and Meta-analysis of Endocrine-related Adverse Events Associated with Interferon

Overview

Journal Front Endocrinol (Lausanne)

Specialty Endocrinology

Date 2022 Aug 22

PMID 35992107

Authors

Linghuan Wang

Binqi Li

He Zhao

Peixin Wu

Qingzhen Wu

Kang Chen

Yiming Mu

Affiliations

Soon will be listed here.

Abstract

Objectives: To perform a systematic review and meta-analysis of interferon and endocrine side effects, including their incidence, evaluation, and management.

Methods: PubMed was searched through March 7th, 2021, by 2 authors independently (LH Wang and H Zhao). Early phase I/II, phase III experimental trials, prospective and retrospective observational studies were included. Stata 16.0 (StataCorp LLC, 16.0) was the main statistical software for meta-analysis. The weighted incidence and risk ratio were estimated for primary thyroid disease and diabetes mellitus.

Results: A total of 108 studies involving 46265 patients were included. Hypothyroidism was the most common thyroid disorder, followed by hyperthyroidism. IFN α+RBV treated patients experienced hypothyroidism in 7.8% (95%CI, 5.9-9.9), which was higher than IFN α (5.2%; 95%CI, 3.7-6.8) and IFN β (7.0%; 95%CI, 0.06-23.92). IFN α+RBV treated patients experienced hyperthyroidism in 5.0% (95%CI, 3.6-6.5), which was higher than IFN α (3.5%; 95%CI, 2.5-4.8) and IFN β (3.4%; 95%CI, 0.9-7.5). The summary estimated incidence of painless thyroiditis was 5.8% (95%CI, 2.8-9.8) for IFN α, and 3.5% (95%CI,1.9-5.5) for IFN α+RBV. The summary estimated incidence of diabetes was 1.4% (95%CI, 0.3-3.1) for IFN, 0.55% (95%CI, 0.05-1.57) for IFN α, 3.3% (95%CI,1.1-6.6) for IFN α+RBV.

Conclusions: Our meta-analysis shows a high incidence of endocrine adverse events provoked by IFN, further reinforced by combined RBV treatment.

Systematic Review Registration: https://www.crd.york.ac.uk/prospero/, identifier CRD42022334131.

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