Increased frequency of HCV and HBV infection in type 2 diabetic patients

The aim of our study was to verify if the diabetic population can be consid ered at risk for HBV (B hepatitis virus) and/or I-ICV (C hepatitis virus) c orrelated viral hepatitis. We examined 1514 diabetic patients, 668 males an d 846 females. III patients who had, on at least two occasions, pathologica l transaminase values (AST and/or ALT), the markers for I-IBV and I-ICV inf ection were determined. Of the 1514 patients studied, 295 (19.48%) had path ological values of ALT and /or AST. Among the hypertransaminase patients (2 95), 69 were not tested for the markers because they refused to give inform ed consent; of the remaining 226 patients, 54 were negative and 172 (76.6%) were positive for at least one of the hepatitis markers (HBV, HCV or both) . Those who were anti-HCV positive were 115 (38.98%), of which 50 were also positive to hepatitis B (16.9%), while those positive only to the B marker s were 57 (19.3%). If we compare the patients with positive markers (172) t o the total number of diabetic patients studied (1514), we find that there is a hepatitis B and/or C prevalence of 11.36%, with no statistically signi ficant difference between females (95/846, 11.23%) and males (77/668, 11.53 %), The prevalence of only hepatitis C was 7.6%, while only hepatitis B was 7.1%. In conclusion, our study shows an increasing prevalence of hepatitis C and B, often associated, in type 2 diabetic patients that allows us to d efine them as a group at risk for viral hepatitis. (C) 2000 Elsevier Scienc e Ireland Ltd. All rights reserved.