| Pregnant or willing to become pregnant in the next 18 months. |
| Unable to use effective contraception during the next 18 months. |
| Diabetes mellitus |
| Contraindication for treatment with pegylated interferon (PEG-IFN), ribavirin (RBV) or metformin. |
| Significant liver dysfunction (albumin <3 gr/dl, prothrombin time >15sec) |
| Decompensated cirrhosis (Child-Pugh scores B or C) |
| Concurrent hepatitis B or human immunodeficiency virus infection |
| Autoimmune hepatitis |
| Primary biliary cirrhosis |
| Sclerosing cholangitis |
| Renal failure (creatinine >1.5 mg/dl for males and >1.4 mg/dl for females) |
| Severe medical conditions (e.g., heart failure, hypoxic acidosis, psychosis, etc.) |
| Refusal to provide consent for study participation. |
