Vitamin D Deficiency in HCV Antiviral Treatment Responders versus Non-Responders

Abstract

Background: Hepatitis C virus (HCV) is a major cause of chronic liver disease (CLD). Pakistan has a high burden of infectious diseases, including HCV. Its prevalence varies according to geographic regions in the country from about 2·4% to 6·5%. The objective of the study was to compare the frequency of vitamin D deficiency in responders and non-responders of antiviral treatment for chronic hepatitis C.
Material and Methods: This comparative cross-sectional study was conducted in Hepatitis Clinic, Jinnah hospital, Lahore from 20th May to 20th November 2013. After ethical approval, participants were selected by using purposive non-probability sampling, 52 responder patients i.e. who were labeled negative for HCV RNA by PCR after 12 weeks of antiviral treatment and 52 non-responder patients were included in this study. Data was collected by using pretested structured questionnaire. Vitamin D3 levels were measured by ELISA and a cut-off value of below 30ng/ml was labeled as Vitamin D deficiency. SPSS version 21 was used to analyze data with p value less than 0.05 taken as statistically significant.
Results: Out of 104 patients (mean age 35±8.1 years), 61.5% were males and 38.5 % were females. There was a significant difference in frequency of vitamin D deficiency in treatment responder group when compared to non-responders (p = 0.016). Mean level of vitamin D was 21.8±10.8ng/ml in responders whereas it was 15.6±7.5 in non-responders with a statistically significant difference (p = 0.001).
Conclusion: This study concludes that there is a significant vitamin D deficiency among treatment non-responders as compared to treatment responders in patients with chronic hepatitis C.