title: Hepatitis C virus genotype distribution in Egyptian diabetic patients: a preliminary study.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  There is controversy regarding whether a specific hepatitis C virus (HCV) genotype is associated with diabetes mellitus. This study aimed to investigate HCV genotype distribution in diabetics and its relation to some clinical and laboratory variables in HCV-positive diabetic versus non-diabetic Egyptians in East Delta.
  
  
  METHODS
  The study included 100 HCV-positive patients of which 66 were diabetic in addition to 35 healthy adults as a control group. Clinical assessment, laboratory measurements of plasma glucose, insulin, C-peptide, C-reactive protein (CRP), tumour necrosis factor-α (TNF-α) and liver functions (alanine aminotransferase (ALT), aspartate aminotransferase (AST) and gamma-glutamyltransferase (GGT)) as well as HCV genotype determination were done, and AST/platelet ratio index (APRI) and Homoeostasis Model of Assessment-Insulin Resistance (HOMA-IR) were calculated.
  
  
  RESULTS
  The main results were the presence of HCV genotype 3, in 31.8% of the diabetic group and in 26.5% of the non-diabetic group, while the remainder of cases had genotype 4, the predominant genotype in Egypt. This is the first report of the presence of HCV genotype 3 in about 30% of an Egyptian cohort. However, there was no significant difference in genotype distribution between both groups. Further, there were significantly higher values of HOMA-IR, insulin and C-peptide in HCV-positive groups in comparison to the control group, while TNF-α was significantly higher in the HCV-positive diabetic group. However, there were no significant differences between both genotypes regarding these parameters.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Although this study reveals for the first time the presence of HCV genotype 3 in a significant percentage of a group of Egyptian patients, where the majority were diabetic, the association between diabetes and certain HCV genotypes could not be confirmed on the basis of our findings. Hence, taking into consideration the impact of such a finding on the treatment decisions of those patients, further studies are warranted to explore these findings to a greater extent.
authors.affiliation: Internal Medicine Department, Faculty of Medicine, Mansoura University, Mansoura City, Egypt. omasaleh@gmail.com
authors.forename: Omayma
authors.initials: O
authors.lastname: Saleh
authors.forename: Azza A
authors.initials: AA
authors.lastname: Baiomy
authors.forename: Ayman
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: El-desouky
authors.forename: Hosam
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Zaghloul
authors.forename: Mohammad
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: El-Arman
authors.forename: Gamal M
authors.initials: GM
authors.lastname: Dahab
authors.forename: Mohamed S
authors.initials: MS
authors.lastname: Abdel-Rahman
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000410:Alanine Transaminase / Q000097:blood; D000704:Analysis of Variance; D001219:Aspartate Aminotransferases / Q000097:blood; D001786:Blood Glucose; D002096:C-Peptide / Q000097:blood; D002097:C-Reactive Protein / Q000378:metabolism; D003920:Diabetes Mellitus / Q000097:blood / Q000821:virology*; D004534:Egypt; D005260:Female; D005838:Genotype; D016174:Hepacivirus / Q000235:genetics*; D006526:Hepatitis C / Q000097:blood* / Q000821:virology*; D006706:Homeostasis; D006801:Humans; D007333:Insulin Resistance; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D010976:Platelet Count; D018709:Statistics, Nonparametric; D014409:Tumor Necrosis Factor-alpha / Q000097:blood; D005723:gamma-Glutamyltransferase / Q000097:blood
chemical_list: D001786:Blood Glucose; D002096:C-Peptide; D014409:Tumor Necrosis Factor-alpha; D002097:C-Reactive Protein; D005723:gamma-Glutamyltransferase; D001219:Aspartate Aminotransferases; D000410:Alanine Transaminase