Prevalence of Hepatitis C Virus Infection in Diabetic Patients
Journal Title: Turkish Journal of Endocrinology and Metabolism - Year 1998, Vol 2, Issue 3
Abstract
In order to evaluate the prevalence of hepatitis C virus (HCV) infection in diabetic patients, 13 type 1 and 106 type 2, a total of 119 diabetic patients were examined. Patients were analyzed for sex, type of diabetes, diabetes duration, treatment of diabetes, diabetic complications and HbA1c and their history about previous hospitalization, major surgical procedure and blood transfusion was recorded. Liver function tests were studied and elevations were categorized as hepatocellular, cholestatic or both. Serologic testing for anti-HCV was done using a third generation commercial enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) and also hepatitis B virus markers were studied. When diabetic patients were compared with 3000 healthy blood donors, the prevalence of HCV infection was found to be significantly higher in diabetic patients (10.92% vs. 1.2%, p<0.001). Antİ HCV positive diabetic patients were compared with the anti HCV negative diabetic patients for epidemiological and clinical variables and there was found no correlation between them. Abnormal liver function tests were observed in 61.4% of anti HCV positive diabetic patients compared with 23.5% of anti HCV negative diabetics (p<0.05). While hepatocellular and cholestatic enzyme elevations of the two groups were not markedly different, mixed cholestatic+hepatocellular enzyme abnormalities were significantly higher in anti HCV positive patients (53.8% vs. 5.6%,p<0.001). In five of the 13 HCV(+) diabetic patients percutaneous liver biopsies were performed and 4 patients were found to have chronic active hepatitis and one precirrhosis. Because HCV infection prevalence is extremely high in the diabetic population, diabetic patients that have liver enzyme abnormalities should be evaluated strictly and HCV infection be ruled out.
Authors and Affiliations
Aysen Akalın, Belgin Efe, Medine Kebapçı, Zafer Gülbaş, Esat Erenoğlu
Keywords
Related Articles
- EP ID EP83189
- DOI -
- Views 122
- Downloads 0
The Turkish Lipid Problem: Low Levels of High Density Lipoproteins
The unique lipid and lipoprotein profile of Turks is characterized primarily by very low plasma levels of high density lipoprotein cholesterol (HDL-C), specifically low levels of the protective subclasses of HDL, HDL2 an...
The Prevalence of Obesity in Adult Population in a City on the Mediterranean Coast of Turkey
The aim of the study was to determine the prevalence and type of obesity in Mersin city center on the Mediterrenean coast of Turkey, as well as its relationship with age, sex, education level, blood pressure and menopaus...
Use of Metformin in Pregnancy: A Survey of Turkish Physicians’ Attitudes
Objective: Although metformin crosses the placenta, there is no current evidence whether the use of metformin in pregnancy is associated with increased risk of fetal and maternal complications. The aim of this present st...
Hashimoto's Encephalopathy
Hashimoto's Encephalopathy (HE) is a rare condition associated with Hashimoto's disease. HE is seen mostly in women. Researchers considered HE to consist of two sub types. HE is diagnosed in patients with neurological fi...
Twice Weekly L-T4 for the Treatment of Primary Hypothyroidism
This study was done to see whether levothyroxine (L-T4) given twice a week is effective and safe in the management of primary hypothyroidism in 20 patients with primary hypothyroidism who were followed by the outpatient...