ISSN: 0973-7510

E-ISSN: 2581-690X

Research Article | Open Access
Muneerah Hamad Aldubaie1,2, Prarthana M. Suryavamshi1, Uma M. Irfan3,
Hamad A. Al-Hamed4, Turki Abdullah Almogbel5, Ahmad Almatroudi1,Faris Alrumaihi1 and Khaled Allemailem1
1Department of Medical Laboratories, College of Applied Medical Sciences, Qassim University, Buraydah 51452, Saudi Arabia.
2Department of Laboratory, Dr. Sulaiman Al Habib Medical Group, Riyadh 11635, Saudi Arabia.
3School of Dental Medicine, Case Western Reserve University, Cleveland, Ohio 44106, USA.
4Department of Laboratory and Blood Bank, King Fahd Specialist Hospital, Buraydah 52211, Saudi Arabia.
5Diabetes Center, King Fahd Specialist Hospital, Buraydah 52211, Saudi Arabia.
Article Number: 8777 | © The Author(s). 2023
J Pure Appl Microbiol. 2023;17(3):1722-1736. https://doi.org/10.22207/JPAM.17.3.37
Received: 14 June 2023 | Accepted: 16 August 2023 | Published online: 02 September 2023
Issue online: September 2023
Abstract

The worldwide prevalence of Diabetes Mellitus (DM) associated with Hepatitis C Virus (HCV) infection are reported with higher rates of morbidity and mortality. The frequency of HCV is approximately 3-4 million cases each year and in parallel the incidence of DM is increasing alarmingly. World Health Organization (WHO) has specified that DM will be the 7th leading cause of mortality by 2030. The increasing association between HCV and DM has been indicated by some significant reports recently. HCV infection leads to hepatic steatosis and rapid insulin resistance, which in turn upsurges the risk factors for hepatic fibrosis and hepatocellular carcinoma. This study is designed to examine the association between HCV and DM, and different risk factors associated with HCV infection in Qassim region, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA). A total of 634 blood samples were obtained from diabetic and non-diabetic patients. These blood samples were first screened for HCV infection by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) and positive samples were again confirmed by TaqMan HCV quantitative test and the viral load in different samples was estimated. The HCV prevalence was identified as 2.5% in diabetic patients with a positive association between HCV and DM (RR= 1.24, OR= 1.77) which is not significant statistically. However, the HCV prevalence among diabetic females was significantly different from males (p<0.05). The behavioural factors had no significant impact to acquire HCV infection. This study indicated a positive association between HCV and DM. Gender was an association factor in the HCV and DM status. Further studies with larger sample size is significant to properly assess the temporal relationship between HCV and DM.

Keywords

Hepatitis C Virus, Viral Load, Diabetes Mellitus Type I, Diabetes Mellitus Type II, Qassim Region

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© The Author(s) 2023. Open Access. This article is distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License which permits unrestricted use, sharing, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided you give appropriate credit to the original author(s) and the source, provide a link to the Creative Commons license, and indicate if changes were made.