Oxidative stress is closely associated with insulin resistance in genotypes 1 and 3 chronic hepatitis C.

Background: Chronic hepatitis C (CHC) infection is associated with insulin resistance and with oxidative stress, but the relationship between the two has not been thoroughly examined.

Purpose: To evaluate the association between insulin resistance and oxidative stress in CHC patients.

Method: In 115 CHC patients (68 with genotype 1 and 47 with genotype 3), the relationship between the serum concentration of malondialdehyde (MDA), a marker of oxidative stress and insulin resistance as defined by the homeostasis model (HOMA-IR) was examined.