Brief Articles
Copyright ©2009 The WJG Press and Baishideng. All rights reserved.
World J Gastroenterol. Jun 14, 2009; 15(22): 2778-2781
Published online Jun 14, 2009. doi: 10.3748/wjg.15.2778
Association of hepatitis C virus infection and diabetes in central Tunisia
Naoufel Kaabia, Elhem Ben Jazia, Ines Slim, Imen Fodha, Wissem Hachfi, Rafika Gaha, Mabrouk Khalifa, Aoutef Hadj Kilani, Halim Trabelsi, Ahmed Abdelaziz, Fethi Bahri, Amel Letaief
Naoufel Kaabia, Ines Slim, Wissem Hachfi, Mabrouk Khalifa, Fethi Bahri, Amel Letaief, Elhem Ben Jazia, Department of Internal Medicine and Infectious Disease, Unit of Research: 04/UR/08-21, University Hospital Farhat Hached, Sousse 4000, Tunisia
Imen Fodha, Halim Trabelsi, Microbiology Unit, University Hospital Sahloul, Sousse 4000, Tunisia
Rafika Gaha, Ahmed Abdelaziz, Epidemiology Unit, University Hospital Farhat Hached, Sousse 4000, Tunisia
Aoutef Hadj Kilani, Department of Medicine, Msaken hospital, Sousse 4000, Tunisia
Author contributions: Kaabia N, Ben Jazia E and Slim I contributed equally to this work; Hachfi W, Khalifa M, Hadj Kilani A, Bahri F and Letaief A designed the research; Fodha I and Trabelsi H performed microbiological assessment; Gaha R and Abdelaziz A analyzed statistical data.
Correspondence to: Dr. Elhem Ben Jazia, Department of Internal Medicine and Infectious Diseases, Unit of Research: 04/UR/08-21, University Hospital Farhat Hached, Sousse 4000, Tunisia. elhem.benjazia@rns.tn
Telephone: +216-73-211183
Fax: +216-73-211183
Received: November 21, 2008
Revised: April 29, 2009
Accepted: May 6, 2009
Published online: June 14, 2009
Abstract

AIM: To investigate hepatitis C virus (HCV) seroprevalence in Tunisian patients with diabetes mellitus and in a control group.

METHODS: A cross-sectional study was conducted to determine the HCV seroprevalence in 1269 patients with diabetes (452 male, 817 female) and 1315 non-diabetic patients, attending health centers in Sousse, Tunisia. HCV screening was performed in both groups using a fourth-generation enzyme immunoassay.

RESULTS: In the diabetic group, 17 (1.3%) were found to be HCV-infected compared with eight (0.6%) in the control group, although the difference was not significant (P = 0.057). Quantitative PCR was performed in 20 patients. Eleven patients were positive and showed HCV genotype 1b in all cases.

CONCLUSION: Frequency of HCV antibodies was low in patients with diabetes and in the control group in central Tunisia, with no significant difference between the groups.

Keywords: Hepatitis C virus; Diabetes mellitus; Tunisia; Epidemiology; Autoantibodies; Hepatitis