Assessment of Lipid and Blood Parameters among Patients Infected with Chronic Hepatitis C Virus: A Case-Control Study

Hepatitis C virus (HCV) infection is a blood-borne infection associated with high rates of morbidity and mortality, posing a serious global and Saudi Arabian public health concern. Globally, one million new infections occur each year, leading to severe consequences such as chronic inflammatory illness, cirrhosis, end-stage liver failure, and hepatocellular carcinoma. Additionally, HCV infection is linked to altered lipid and blood parameters, which are crucial in chronic hepatitis C (CHC) patients. This study aims to investigate the correlation of lipid and blood parameter irregularities among CHC patients at the Ministry of National Guard Health Affairs-Western Region (MNGHA-WR). In our case-control study, a total of 71 male and female patients diagnosed with CHC infection were enrolled from July 2014 to August 2021. Additionally, 142 sex- and age-unmatched non-HCV individuals were selected from the MNGHA-WR database. Medical records of patients and non-HCV individuals were analyzed to determine variations. Categorical variables were assessed using the Chi-square test, and numeric variables were analyzed using a t-test. A significant P value was considered to be < 0.05.There was a statistically significant decrease in the levels of total cholesterol (TC), triglycerides (TG), high-density lipoprotein (HDL), white blood cells (WBC), red blood cells (RBC), hemoglobin (Hgb), hematocrit (HCT), platelets (PLT), mean corpuscular hemoglobin concentration (MCHC), mean corpuscular hemoglobin (MCH), mean corpuscular volume (MCV), and mean platelet volume (MPV) in CHC patients compared to non-HCV individuals (P < 0.05). This significant association persisted even after adjusting for age and gender, except for TC and TG, which showed a statistically insignificant relationship (P > 0.05). However, variations in lipid and blood parameters were observed in patients with CHC infection compared to non-HCV individuals. These findings underscore the intricate pathophysiologic relationships between the chronicity of the disease and these parameters.