Fatty Liver ; complications ; epidemiology ; Hepatitis B, Chronic ; complications ; epidemiology ; Hepatitis C, Chronic ; complications ; epidemiology ; Humans

Biopsy ; China ; epidemiology ; Fatty Liver ; complications ; Hepatitis C, Chronic ; complications ; virology ; Humans ; Insulin Resistance ; Liver Cirrhosis ; complications ; diagnosis ; epidemiology ; Metabolic Syndrome ; epidemiology ; etiology ; RNA, Viral ; blood ; Risk Factors

BACKGROUNDTo study the relationship between HCV infection and the development of type II diabetes mellitus.

METHODS1. The case record files of 126 patients with chronic hepatitis C vs. 227 with chronic hepatitis B were reviewed and the laboratory and demographic data were extracted. 2. Anti-HCV and HBsAg were determined for 160 type II diabetes patients and 223 healthy adults by ELISA.

RESULTS1. The occurrence of diabetes in patients with chronic hepatitis C was 19.05%, higher than 8.37% in patients with chronic hepatitis B (P<0.01). Age and HCV infection were independent risk factors for diabetes. 2. Five patients with type II diabetes were anti-HCV positive (3.12%) while none of the 223 healthy adults was anti-HCV positive (P<0.05). Seven patients with diabetes (4.37%) and 12 healthy adults (5.38%)were HBsAg positive (P>0.05).

CONCLUSIONS1. The occurrence of diabetes was significantly higher in patients with HCV related liver disease than in patients with HBV related liver disease. 2. The occurrence of anti HCV was higher in diabetes patients than in healthy adults. HCV may play a role in the development of diabetes mellitus.

Adult ; China ; epidemiology ; Comorbidity ; Diabetes Mellitus, Type 2 ; epidemiology ; virology ; Female ; Hepatitis B, Chronic ; complications ; epidemiology ; Hepatitis C, Chronic ; complications ; epidemiology ; Humans ; Male ; Middle Aged ; Prevalence ; Random Allocation ; Risk Assessment ; Risk Factors

PURPOSE: To investigate the contribution of HCV infection to insulin resistance in chronic haemodialysis patients. MATERIALS AND METHODS: The study was performed with 55 patients who were on regular haemodialysis therapy three times per week. Of the 55 patients, 34 (20 females and 14 males with an average age of 40.9 years) were anti-HCV (+) and were defined as the HCV (+) group. The remaining 21 patients (8 females and 11 males with an average age of 50 years) were negative for HCV and other viral markers and were defined as the HCV (-) group. BMI of all patients were below 27. Insulin resistance (IR) was calculated according to the HOMA formula and patients were called HOMA-IR (+) if their HOMA scores were higher than 2.5. All of the HOMA-IR (+) patients in both groups were called the HOMA-IR (+) subgroup. None of the patients had a history of drug use or any diseases that were related to insulin resistance except uremia. In both groups and the healthy control group, insulin and glucose levels were studied at three different venous serum samples taken at 5- minute intervals after 12 hours of fasting. Other individual variables were studied at venous serum samples taken after 12 hours of fasting. RESULTS: HOMA scores were (3)2.5 in 22 of 34 HCV (+) patients (64.7%) and 7 of 21HCV (-) patients (33.33%) (p=0.024). Insulin levels of HCV (+) group (13.32 +/- 9.44mIU/mL) were significantly higher than HCV (-) (9.07 +/- 7.39mIU/mL) and the control groups (6.40 +/- 4.94mIU/ mL) (p=0.039 and p=0.021 respectively). HCV (+) patients were younger (40.94 +/- 17.06 and 52.62 +/- 20.64 years, respectively) and had longer dialysis duration (7.18 +/- 3.61 and 2.91 +/- 2.69 years, respectively). Significant positive correlations of HOMA score with insulin (r=0.934, p=0.000) and fasting glucose levels (r=0.379, p=0.043) were found in the HOMA- IR (+) subgroup. Also, a significant positive correlation was found between ALT and insulin levels in the HOMA IR (+) subgroup. C-peptide levels of both HCV (+) and (-) groups were significantly higher than the control group (p < 0.001). There were not any significant correlations between HOMA score and some of the other individual variables including levels of triglyceride, ferritin, ALT, iPTH and Mg in any of the groups. CONCLUSION: In chronic haemodialysis patients; HCV infection is related to a high prevalence of insulin resistance, higher insulin and glucose levels.
*Renal Dialysis ; Middle Aged ; Male ; Kidney Failure, Chronic/*complications ; *Insulin Resistance ; Insulin/blood ; Hyperinsulinism/epidemiology ; Humans ; Hepatitis C/*epidemiology ; Female ; C-Peptide/blood ; Adult

OBJECTIVETo investigate the incidence of type 2 diabetes mellitus in patients with chronic hepatitis C (CHC) and its relation to HCV genotypes, and to confirm whether diabetes is an exohepatic manifestation of CHC.

METHODSSandwich hybridization microplate assays and fluorescence quantification PCR technology were used to detect HBV DNA, HCV RNA and HCV genotypes of 308 chronic hepatitis C patients and 305 chronic hepatitis B patients. The incidence of diabetes in these patients was compared and analyzed with that in 310 controls.

RESULTSThe incidence of diabetes in patients with chronic hepatitis C was 32.79%, higher than that in patients with chronic hepatitis B (9.84%) and in the control group (8.39%). Serum levels of ALT and TBIL in hepatitis C patients with diabetes were higher than those without diabetes. Infection rate of HCV 1b in hepatitis C patients with diabetes was the highest (40.59%), and when compared with that of those without diabetes the difference was very significant.

CONCLUSIONIncidence of diabetes mellitus in patients with chronic hepatitis C is high, especially those infected with HCV 1b, and the liver functions of these patients are more severely damaged.

Adolescent ; Adult ; Aged ; China ; epidemiology ; Diabetes Mellitus, Type 2 ; complications ; epidemiology ; Female ; Genotype ; Hepacivirus ; genetics ; Hepatitis C, Chronic ; complications ; virology ; Humans ; Incidence ; Male ; Middle Aged

Adult ; Aged ; B-Lymphocytes ; pathology ; Female ; Gastric Mucosa ; pathology ; Hepatitis B, Chronic ; complications ; epidemiology ; virology ; Hepatitis C, Chronic ; complications ; epidemiology ; virology ; Humans ; Immunohistochemistry ; Liver ; pathology ; Lymphoma ; etiology ; pathology ; virology ; Male ; Middle Aged ; Staining and Labeling

OBJECTIVETo investigate the natural history and clinical outcomes in a cohort of transfusion-related hepatitis C in northern areas of China. Methods The authors studied 283 patients (137 males, 146 females, mean age 45.79+/-9.92 age) who became infected with HCV while donating plasma 12.25 years ago. These cases were subjected to ultrasonography and liver biochemical tests and serologic anti-HCV assays. Statistical analyses were performed using the SPSS software.

RESULTSUltrasonographic findings suggestive of liver cirrhosis were 8.3% of cases. No decompensated cirrhosis or HCC was detected. The value of ALT was higher in severe chronic hepatitis (mean 62.07+/-50.87 IU/L) and cirrhosis (mean 115.50+/-108.41 IU/L) patients than in the other groups (mean 32.30+/-29.10 IU/L). The abnormal rate of ALT was 53.3% in severe group, 100% in cirrhosis group.

CONCLUSIONThe natural history of transfusion-related hepatitis C in the areas seemed to be relatively mild when compared with previous data. Our cases showed relatively low rate of positive findings in ultrasonography. None of this cohort had the decompensated cirrhosis or HCC. The factor of sex but not the age at time of infection was found being related to the outcomes. In the absence of liver biopsy, ultrasonography was a suitable and sensitive method for the diagnosis of the progressive hepatitis and cirrhosis.

Adult ; Aged ; China ; epidemiology ; Female ; Hepatitis C, Chronic ; diagnostic imaging ; epidemiology ; transmission ; Humans ; Liver ; diagnostic imaging ; Liver Cirrhosis ; complications ; diagnostic imaging ; Male ; Middle Aged ; Transfusion Reaction ; Ultrasonography

INTRODUCTIONThe objective of this study was to explore the association between thrombocytopenia and its related factors.

MATERIALS AND METHODSThis was a hospital-based, cross-sectional study. We retrospectively analysed the medical records of all patients who received periodic health examinations at a medical centre located at Taichung in Taiwan between 2000 and 2004. In all, 5585 subjects were included for further analysis. A complete physical examination, laboratory survey and abdominal ultrasonography were performed on each subject. The t-test, chi-square test and multivariate logistic regression analysis were used.

RESULTSThe subjects consisted of 3123 men (55.9%) and 2462 women (44.1%). The mean age was 49.4 +/- 12.3 years (range, 20 to 87). The overall prevalence of thrombocytopenia was found to be 0.5%, higher in men than in women (0.6% vs 0.4%, P = 0.504). After controlling for the other covariates, multivariate logistic regression analysis exhibited that the factors significantly related to thrombocytopenia were increasing age (OR, 1.04; 95% CI, 1.004-1.08), anti-HCV positive (OR, 5.24; 95% CI, 2.08-13.20), liver cirrhosis (OR, 7.93; 95% CI, 2.28-27.62), and splenomegaly (OR, 18.86; 95% CI, 6.86-51.87).

CONCLUSIONIt is advisable to further check the hepatic status, if thrombocytopenia is noted.

Academic Medical Centers ; Adult ; Age Factors ; Aged ; Aged, 80 and over ; Cross-Sectional Studies ; Female ; Hepatitis C Antibodies ; blood ; Hepatitis C, Chronic ; complications ; epidemiology ; Humans ; Liver Cirrhosis ; complications ; epidemiology ; Male ; Middle Aged ; Odds Ratio ; Prevalence ; Retrospective Studies ; Splenomegaly ; complications ; epidemiology ; Taiwan ; epidemiology ; Thrombocytopenia ; complications ; epidemiology ; Young Adult

The mortality due to chronic liver disease, including liver cirrhosis and hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC), ranks as one of the highest in Korea. The prevalence rates of hepatitis C virus (HCV) and hepatitis B virus (HBV) infections in the general Korean population are approximately 1 and 5%, respectively. Blood transfusion was the strongest risk factor for the transmission of HCV infection. Therefore, the evaluation of risk factors for HCV infection including blood transfusion, intravenous drug user, hemophilia, and hemodialysis, is important. The most prevalent HCV genotype is 1b followed by 2a. The annual incidence of HCC among HCV-related liver cirrhosis has been estimated at 5%, and approximately 12% of HCC is attributable to HCV and 68% to HBV in Korea. HCV infection is more closely associated with HCC in elderly patients than HBV-related HCC. Even though the prevalence of anti-HCV in Korea has been reduced and the risk of HCV transmission through blood transfusion has markedly decreased, public-health programs to prevent de novo infections should be developed. This review describes the HCV prevalence and risk factors among the general population, and the distribution of HCV genotypes as well as the clinical course of HCV in Korea.
Adult ; Carcinoma, Hepatocellular/*virology ; Genotype ; Hepacivirus/genetics/isolation & purification ; Hepatitis C, Chronic/*complications/*epidemiology ; Humans ; Korea ; Liver Cirrhosis/*virology ; Liver Neoplasms/*virology ; Middle Aged ; Prevalence ; Risk Factors

Adult ; Aged ; Aged, 80 and over ; China ; epidemiology ; Diabetes Mellitus ; epidemiology ; etiology ; Fatty Liver ; complications ; Female ; Glucose Metabolism Disorders ; epidemiology ; etiology ; Hepatitis B, Chronic ; complications ; virology ; Hepatitis C ; complications ; virology ; Humans ; Liver ; metabolism ; pathology ; Liver Cirrhosis ; epidemiology ; etiology ; Liver Cirrhosis, Alcoholic ; epidemiology ; etiology ; Male ; Middle Aged ; Odds Ratio ; Retrospective Studies