%0 Journal Article
%T Association of hepatitis C virus infection and diabetes in central Tunisia
%A Naoufel Kaabia
%A Elhem Ben Jazia
%A Ines Slim
%A Imen Fodha
%A Wissem Hachfi
%A Rafika Gaha
%A Mabrouk Khalifa
%A Aoutef Hadj Kilani
%A Halim Trabelsi
%A Ahmed Abdelaziz
%A Fethi Bahri
%A Amel Letaief
%J World Journal of Gastroenterology
%D 2009
%I Baishideng Publishing Group Co. Limited
%X 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.
%K Hepatitis C virus
%K Diabetes mellitus
%K Tunisia
%K Epidemiology
%K Autoantibodies
%K Hepatitis
%U http://www.wjgnet.com/1007-9327/full/v15/i22/2778.htm