Association of Biochemical Markers, Hepatitis C Virus and Diabetes Mellitus in Pakistani Males

Purpose: To investigate the association between Hepatitis C Virus (HCV) infection and diabetes mellitus (DM), and the effects of these pathological conditions on some biochemical markers in Pakistanis.
Methods: A total number of 4717 chronic HCV patients were enrolled in this study out of which 4250 were positive with the enzyme linked immunosorbant assay (ELISA). Out of this, HCV was detected in 3513 samples by qualitative polymerase chain reaction (PCR). PCR positive samples were divided into: HCV without diabetes ( n = 3136) and HCV with diabetes ( n = 377) groups; 130 patients with diabetes only (negative for HCV ELISA) were also included in the study. Biochemical tests of all three groups were performed to determine liver, diabetic and lipid profiles.
Results: There was increased prevalence of HCV alone and HCV + diabetes patients in the 4^th decade of life. Alanine aminotransferase (ALT) titers were higher in HCV patients with diabetes than in HCV patients without diabetes (p ≤ 0.001). Fasting blood glucose was greater in HCV patients with diabetes than in diabetes only patients. Total cholesterol and triglyceride were moderately lower in non-diabetic HCV patients than in diabetes only patients (p ≤ 0.005). However, total cholesterol and triglyceride levels were significantly higher in HCV patients with diabetes than in the other two groups (p ≤ 0.001).
Conclusion: There is positive correlation of HCV with diabetes in the population studied. This association is more pronounced (where there are elevated levels of triglyceride and fasting blood glucose) in HCV patients with diabetes than diabetes patients without HCV infection.

Keywords
Hepatitis C; Diabetes mellitus; Biochemical markers; Lipid profile; Glycosylated haemoglobin