PREVALENCE OF IMPAIRED ORAL GLUCOSE TOLERANCE TEST IN MAJOR THALASSEMIC PATIENTS WITH AND WITHOUT HEPATITIS C VIRUS INFECTION IN ZAHEDAN IN 2001

Hepatitis C virus (HCV) infection is an important health problem all over the world. Contact with HCV is nearly unavoidable in patients with thalassemia major (TM). Some studies suggest that HCV infection may be an independent risk factor for development of glucose intolerance and diabetes mellitus (DM). In fewer studies this relationship has not been found. The aim of this study is to investigate whether chronic HCV infetion can impair glucose tolerance in patients with TM. We compared all 7-20 years old HCV(+) TM patients in Zahedan (n=33) with 33 HCV(-) TM patients, matched for age, ferritin levels, number of blood transfusions, liver function test (SGPT, SGOT) and number of years with no desferal use. we checked our patients for HCV infection by ELIZA and RIBA-2[liotech Inc.] as HCV infection testing algorithm for diagnosis of asymptomatic persons which is recommended by CDC. We performed standard oral glucose tolerance test (OGTT) in all of them. Prevalence of impaired OGTT was not different among thalassemic patients with and without HCV infection (6% versus 9%, p> 0.05) and prevalence of impaired OGTT was the same among different age groups (in 7-12 y: 5.9% and >12 y: 21.5%, p>0.05). Prevalence of impaired OGTT was more among HCV(+)thalassemic patients with family history of DM (28.6 % versus 0 %, p< 0.01). Our findings suggest that chronic HCV infection does not increase the risk of glucose intolerance among thalassemic patients 7-20 years old, and DM should not be listed among extrahepatic manifestations of HCV infection in this age group.