Biomedical Letters

Serum metal levels as diagnostic indicators of Hepatitis C Virus Infection

Saghir Ahmad Jafri 1*, Kalsoom Zaigham 2, Kamran Mukhtar 2, Muhammad Imran 3, Khawar Ali Shahzad 2,4

1 Nur International University, Fatima Memorial Hospital, Shadman, Lahore 54000, Pakistan.

2 Institute of Molecular Biology and Biotechnology, The University of Lahore, Lahore 54000, Pakistan.

3 School of Botany, Minhaj University, Lahore 54000, Pakistan

4 Department of Microbiology and Immunology, Southeast University, Nanjing 210009, China.

Abstract

The serum metal profile is a good indicator for hepatitis C virus infection as serum trace element profile reflect a significant variation in HCV patients. The present study was aimed to evaluate variation in minerals in HCV patients as compared to normal controls as indicator of HCV. HCV positive patients from different hospitals of Lahore and its adjoining areas were taken as experimental subjects. The control group was included after thorough medical and lab reports verifications of metal levels in normal range with no other disease. The serum was stored at -25oC until analyzed for Na, K, Ca, Mg, Co, Ni and Pb. The estimation of different metal was performed by using Inductively Coupled plasma optical emission spectrometer (ICP-OES) in all normal controls and hepatitis C patients. It was observed that none of the metal had significant differences (P>0.05) at serum level between HCV patients and controls both in male or female groups indicating no direct effect of disease on the metals except Ni. It was observed that Ni metal was not present in the serum of HCV infected patients where as in controls normal levels of Ni were observed. No previous supportive work on the issue could be traced, which needs specific study. It may be assumed that none of these metals can be taken as indicator of HCV for early disease diagnosis.

Keywords: HCV, RNA, Virus, Hepatitis, Cirrhosis, ICP-OES.

Received September 16, 2016 Revised October 29, 2016 Accepted November 29, 2016

*Correspondence: Saghir Ahmad Jafri Email: jafri43@yahoo.com Contact: +923009488693