Study of some biochemical factors among patients with Hepatitis C virus in Diyala Governorate

Abstract

The HCV leads Hepatitis can be either acute or chronic, with severity levels that can vary from a mild illness lasting a couple of weeks to a severe, lifelong condition, and it's a leading cause of liver cancer. HCV is transmitted through blood, and the most common way people get infected is by coming into contact with small amounts of blood. This study set out to look into how widespread the serological marker (anti-HCV Ab) is among the groups being examined.to

  (renal dialysis patients, thalassemia patients, blood donor and healthy control) in Diyala, Iraq. The current study was held in Diyala province between the times/ from January/2025 to September / 2025. This study included 360 participants. The Mean ± SD of age was 30.0 ±17.5 years with a range (3-69) years. The majority are men, (76.9% versus ±23.1%). This study were included four groups (90 patients under renal dialysis, 90 patients with thalassemia blood donors group consist of 90 individuals and another 90 individuals were included as healthy control). Special survey was pre-constructed to collect information regarding age, sex, residence and education level. The information was collected through short personal interview with patients. The results in this study showed 36 (10%) were positive for anti-HCV Abs with 32.2% and 7.8% among the renal dialysis and thalassemia groups respectively with a statistically high difference (P= 0.0001). However, all participants in the blood donors and healthy individuals were negative for anti-HCV Ab. According to social factors the results of anti-HCV Ab founded the age, the results showed that the  anti-HCV Ab positivity rate was significantly higher among 50-59 years old compared to other age groups (P= 0.0001). While the other social factors (gender, residence and education) the results was statistically insignificant. Finally, Results revealed the distribution of anti-HCV Ab positivity rate according to biochemical markers (Glucose test, Blood urea test, Creatinine test, Total bilirubin test, Albumin test, Total protein test, ALT test and AST test) were statistical analysis significantly higher (P value= 0.0001) among all biochemical markers according to positivity rate of anti-HCV Ab. The conclusion from this study, the prevalence of HCV infection was high among study groups in Diyala province/Iraq and HCV infection progressively compromises liver function.