Incidence of helicobacter pylori, diabetes and various biochemical markers in hepatitis c virus-infected patients in Mardan, Pakistan

Hepatitis C Virus (HCV) infection can lead to cirrhosis and hepatocellular carcinoma. It is still considered as one of the major health issue globally. HCV infected person experiences several biochemical abnormalities. In this study, we investigated to correlate the HCV infection with few other diseases like Helicobacter pylori and diabetes and determine the fluctuations in various biochemical markers i.e. ALT, PLT, Hb, and RA-factor. In this cross-sectional and observational study, 191 (139 male and 52 female) HCV-positive patients were included. The HCV-RNA was detected by qualitative-PCR. All the HCV-positive samples were subjected to various clinical diagnostic assays to determine the abnormalities in different biochemical markers occurred due to HCV infection. In the results, 45 (32.3%) of the male patients and 19 (36.5%) of the female patients showed a low level of Hb. 18 (12.9%) of male patients and 12 (23%) of the female patients showed a decrease in the count of the platelet. 59 (42.4%) of the male patients and 21 (40.3%) of the female patients were found positive for having an elevated level of ALT. 32 (23%) of the male patients and 32 (34.6%) of the female patients were found positive for H. pylori infection. 7 (5%) of the male patients and 3 (5.7%) of the female patients showed a decreased level of blood glucose. However, no significant association was found between HCV and diabetes. 16 (11.5%) of the male patients and 4 (7.6%) of the female patients were detected positive for RA-factor in their blood. These factors are strongly associated with disease progression and defining therapy response. However, they are less significant in case of detecting early HCV infection because they can also be increased or decreased in case of other liver diseases.