Adiponectin levels and insulin resistance among patients with chronic hepatitis C.

Chronic hepatitis C virus (HCV) infection is associated with insulin resistance (IR), rapid disease progression, and decreased virological response to antiviral treatment. In addition, obesity is a risk factor for chronic hepatitis C evolution and is associated with IR. As adiponectin is an adipokine that is associated with obesity and IR, this study aimed to investigate serum levels of adiponectin among patients with HCV infection and IR.

Thyroid disorders in patients with chronic hepatitis C using interferon-alpha and ribavirin therapy.

Objective: To investigate the frequency of thyroid disorders (TD) in patients with chronic hepatitis C before and during interferon-alpha (IFN-α) and ribavirin (RIB) treatment.

Study Design: Prospective study.

Patients And Methods: We prospectively studied 65 anti-HCV and viral RNA positive patients.

Smooth muscle antibodies and cryoglobulinemia are associated with advanced liver fibrosis in Brazilian hepatitis C virus carriers.

Cryoglobulinemia and non-organ-specific-autoantibody are biomarkers of autoimmunity of the chronic infection caused by hepatitis C virus (HCV). In this work, we report the association between the presence of smooth muscle antibodies (SMA) and cryoglobulinemia and chronic liver disease in HCV carriers. Sixty-five untreated HCV patients, 38 women and 27 men were included in this study.