Insulin Resistance Among Hepatitis C Infected Children

Ain Shams University90 enrolled

Overview

The goal of this observational study was to study the occurrence of insulin resistance in hepatitis C virus infected children who were either thalassemic or survivors of childhood malignancy and its correlation to the HCV viral load and other metabolic factors. The main question it aims to answer is: 1. Do children infected with Hepatitis C have a higher incidence of Insulin resistance compared to healthy controls of same age and gender? 2. Is Insulin resistance occurence affected by HCV viral load, blood transfusion frequency, or metabolic factors? Researchers will compare hepatitis c infected children who are either thalassemic or survivors of childhood malignant to healthy age and sex matched controls. Participants will be subjected to: * standardized Questionnaires, * physical examination and * laboratory investigations including liver functions (ALT, AST, Alkaline phosphatase), Prothrombin time, serum ferritin level, albumin, fasting glucose, fasting insulin level and Insulin resistance assessment by HOMA IR calculation.

Study Type

OBSERVATIONAL

Enrollment

Conditions

This Study is to Assess Occurence of Insulin Resistance Among Hepatits C Infected Children Whether Thalassemic or Survivors of Childhood Malignancy

Eligibility

Sex: ALLMin age: 3 YearsMax age: 18 YearsHealthy volunteers:

Medical Language ↔ Plain English

Inclusion Criteria: * hepatitis C virus ribonucleic acid (RNA) positive children, who were following up at the pediatric hematology and oncology clinic Exclusion Criteria: * patients with concurrent active hepatitis B virus infection (positive for hepatitis B surface antigen) or * autoimmune hepatitis, * primary biliary cirrhosis (PBC), * sclerosing cholangitis, * haemochromatosis, * α1-antitrypsin deficiency, * Wilson's disease, * patients with obesity (BMI \> 25), or * Type 2 DM.

Outcomes

Primary Outcomes

The primary outcome measure was to study the occurrence of insulin resistance in hepatitis C virus infected children who were either thalassemic or survivors of childhood malignancy

Insulin resistance was assessed by using Homeostasis Model Assessment (HOMA) index

Time frame: over a period of 6 months

Secondary Outcomes

Secondary outcome measure was to assess correlation between insulin resistance and HCV viral load and metabolic parameters.

HCV viral load was measured by HCV RNA level by PCR, and metabolic parameters included liver functions, serum ferritin, fasting glucose and fasting insulin

Time frame: 6 months