Association between Clinical Use of Colchicine and Risk of Type 2 Diabetes Mellitus among Gouty Patients: A Nationwide Cohort Study

Chen-Chih Chu, Yong-Chen Chen, Ming-Hsun Lin, Wen-Tung Wu, Feng-Cheng Liu, Hsiang-Cheng Chen, Yu-Ching Chou and Chien-An Sun
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Chen-Chih Chu: Division of Rheumatology/Immunology and Allergy, Department of Internal Medicine, Tri-Service General Hospital, National Defense Medical Center, Taipei 114, Taiwan
Yong-Chen Chen: Data Science Center, College of Medicine, Fu-Jen Catholic University, New Taipei City 242, Taiwan
Ming-Hsun Lin: Division of Endocrinology and Metabolism, Department of Internal Medicine, Tri-Service General Hospital, National Defense Medical Center, Taipei 114, Taiwan
Wen-Tung Wu: Department of Pharmacy, Tri-Service General Hospital, National Defense Medical Center, Taipei 114, Taiwan
Feng-Cheng Liu: Division of Rheumatology/Immunology and Allergy, Department of Internal Medicine, Tri-Service General Hospital, National Defense Medical Center, Taipei 114, Taiwan
Hsiang-Cheng Chen: Division of Rheumatology/Immunology and Allergy, Department of Internal Medicine, Tri-Service General Hospital, National Defense Medical Center, Taipei 114, Taiwan
Yu-Ching Chou: School of Public Health, National Defense Medical Center, Taipei 114, Taiwan
Chien-An Sun: Data Science Center, College of Medicine, Fu-Jen Catholic University, New Taipei City 242, Taiwan

IJERPH, 2022, vol. 19, issue 6, 1-9

Abstract: Background: Gout is the most common form of inflammatory arthritis in adults. Even though a link between gouty arthritis and type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) has been reported, there is a limited understanding of the association between the anti-inflammatory agent colchicine and the risk of T2DM. This aim of this study was to assess the association between the use of colchicine and the risk of T2DM in an Asian cohort. Methods: A retrospective cohort study was conducted using the National Health Insurance Research Database (NHIRD) in Taiwan from 2000 to 2013. The study cohorts comprised 3841 gouty patients using colchicine (the exposed cohort) and 7682 gouty patients not using colchicine (the unexposed -cohort). The primary outcome was incident DM. The hazard ratios (HRs) and 95% confidence intervals (CIs) derived from a Cox proportional regression model were used to assess the association between colchicine use and the risk of diabetes. Results: The cumulative incidence of T2DM was significantly lower in the exposed cohort (18.8%) than in the unexposed cohort (25.0%). The risk of T2DM was significantly lower in colchicine users than in non-users (adjusted HR, 0.74; 95% CI, 0.36–0.87). The inverse relationship between colchicine use and diabetes risk remained consistent across sex and age groups. Conclusions: This cohort study provides longitudinal evidence that the use of colchicine is associated with a reduced risk of T2DM. This conclusion, however, needs to be interpreted cautiously given the lack of body mass index data in the NHIRD. Further studies are needed to determine the clinical implications of this study.

Keywords: cohort study; colchicine; diabetes mellitus; gout (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: I I1 I3 Q Q5 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2022
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