Vitamin D status and viral response to therapy in hepatitis C infected children

Table 1 Demographic and clinical data for the studied groups and control

	A	B	Total	Control	P value
	(n = 31)	(n = 29)	(n = 60)	(n = 28)
Age (yr)	11.1 ± 2.178	11.043 ± 2.882	11.17 ± 2.293	9.35 ± 3.24	0.445
Duration of illness (yr)	3.4 ± 1.984	3.123 ± 1.688	3.262 ± 1.832	-	0.563
BMI (kg/m2)	20.81 ± 4.29	20.28 ± 3.13	20.54 ± 3.73	21.21 ± 2.34	0.588
Male/female	23/8 (74.1%/25.8%)	20/9 (68.9%/31.1%)	43/17 (71.6%/28.3 %)	17/13 (60.7%/46.4%)	0.284
Blood transfusion, n (%)	16 (51.6)	16 (55.1)	32 (53.3)	-	0.602
Positive family history of HCV	8 (25.8)	1 (3.4)	9 (15.0)	-	0.051
Jaundice, n (%)	19 (61.2)	13 (44.8)	32 (53.3)	-	0.098
Fever, n (%)	9 (29.0)	9 (31.0)	18 (30.0)	-	0.611
History of bleeding, n (%)	17 (54.8)	16 (55.1)	33 (55.0)	-	0.501

¹Significance total vs control. No significant difference between group A and B. Data are presented as the mean ± SD or number (%) as appropriate. BMI: Body mass index.

Table 2 Mean ± SD values of laboratory parameters in the studied groups and control

	Group A	Group B	Total	Control (n = 28)	P value
	(n = 31)	(n = 29)	(n = 60)
ALT (IU/L)	75.46 ± 18.18	87.96 ± 14.11	81.71 ± 18.25	21.35 ± 6.21	0.148
AST (IU/L)	75.5 ± 24.95	104 ± 11.204	89.75 ± 23.41	35.74 ± 4.92	0.24
Calcium (mg/dL)	6.733 ± 1.52	6.657 ± 1.24	6.69 ± 1.38	8.2 ± 0.91	0.83
Phosphorus (mg/dL)	4.24 ± 0.42	4.21 ± 0.39	4.25 ± 0.41	3.1 ± 0.65	0.68
Alkaline phos (IU/L)	140.97 ± 10.98	99.12 ± 24.94	120.05 ± 27.66	78.48 ± 21.10	0.20
HCV RNA (IU/mL)	1393290 ± 52580	967371 ± 56534	1180334 ± 79910	10.21 ± 0.74	0.0011
Vitamin D (nmol/L)	65.26 ± 22.71	57.9 ± 16.17	61.58 ± 17.05	98.31 ± 3.50	0.051
PTH (pg/mL)	179.10 ± 10.25	188.03 ± 14.96	186.56 ± 25.67	65.71 ± 12.05	0.011

¹Significance total vs control. No significant difference between group A and B. AST: Aspartate transaminase; ALT: Alanine transaminase; PTH: Parathormone.

Table 3 Mean ± SD values of bone density parameters in the studied groups with hepatitis C virus infection

	A (n = 31)	B (n = 29)	Total (n = 60)	Z- score	P value
Head	1.226 ± 0.394	1.12 ± 0.383	1.173 ± 0.389	-0.16 ± 0.42	0.297
Arm	1.063 ± 1.223	0.89 ± 0.277	0.976 ± 0.883	-0.916 ± 1.2	0.453
Leg	0.912 ± 0.225	0.969 ± 0.38	0.94 ± 0.311	-1.13 ± 1.34	0.482
Rib	0.688 ± 0.248	0.869 ± 0.411	0.778 ± 0.349	-1.31 ± 0.78	0.0431
Pelvis	0.839 ± 0.187	0.92 ± 0.238	0.879 ± 0.216	-2.8 ± 1.53	0.051
L Spine	0.77 ± 0.207	0.901 ± 0.294	0.835 ± 0.261	-2.43 ± 1.7	0.0511
Total	0.834 ± 0.281	0.913 ± 0.381	0.874 ± 0.334	-1.98 ± 0.75	0.0361

¹Significance between total BMD of HCV patients vs control. BMD: Bone mineral density (g/cm²). HCV: Hepatitis C virus.

Table 4 Mean ± SD values of laboratory parameters in relation to Vitamin D status in the studied groups

	Vitamin D status			Control (n = 28)	Suff vs Insuff	Suff vs Def	Insuff vsDef	Total P value
	Sufficient (n = 14)	Insufficient (n = 26)	Deficient (n = 20)
ALT (IU/L)	97.643 ± 18.06	75.654 ± 15.954	78.45 ± 17.824	21.35 ± 6.21	0.327	0.475	0.885	0.610
AST (IU/L)	97.786 ± 24.215	94.923 ± 13.151	77.4 ± 13.363	35.74 ± 4.92	0.934	0.453	0.551	0.772
Calcium (mg/dL)	7.993 ± 1.183	7.023 ± 1.396	6.13 ± 1.185	8.2 ± 0.91	0.769	0.031	0.090	0.077
Phosphorus (mg/dL)	3.31 ± 0.25	4.21 ± 0.31	4.24 ± 0.61	3.1 ± 0.65	0.354	0.412	0.614	0.456
Alkaline phosphatase (IU/L)	82.92 ± 15.62	109.34 ± 13.08	159.96 ± 14.64	78.48 ± 21.10	0.493	0.068	0.233	0.192
HCV RNA(IU/mL)	1300824 ± 664010	1417943 ± 137873	787100 ± 65915	10.21 ± 0.74	0.705	0.031	0.0221	0.0432
Vitamin D (nmol/L)	84.21 ± 17.821	49.23 ± 15.07	22.6 ± 3.858	98.31 ± 3.50	0.0001	0.001	0.0001	0.0012
PTH (pg/mL)	128.53 ± 20.37	164.05 ± 12.63	179.46 ± 19.24	65.71 ± 12.05	0.181	0.322	0.607	0.296

¹Significance between groups vs control;

²Significance total vs control. AST: Aspartate transaminase; ALT: Alanine transaminase; PTH: Parathormone; Suff: sufficient; Insuff: Insufficient; Def: Deficient.

Table 5 Mean ± SD values of bone mineral density in relation to Vitamin D status in the studied groups

	Vitamin D status			Suff vs Insuff	Suff vs Def	Insuff vs Def	Total
	Sufficient (n = 14)	Insufficient (n = 26)	Deficient (n = 20)				P value
Head	0.921 ± 0.343	1.237 ± 0.415	1.267 ± 0.317	0.0201	0.0051	0.790	0.0182
Arm	1.03 ± 0.901	0.879 ± 0.259	1.065 ± 1.325	0.428	0.931	0.487	0.759
Leg	0.873 ± 0.28	1.001 ± 0.321	0.978 ± 0.291	0.341	0.428	0.798	0.067
Rib	0.856 ± 0.34	0.749 ± 0.358	0.662 ± 0.353	0.365	0.0431	0.910	0.637
Pelvis	0.996 ± 0.234	0.895 ± 0.219	0.748 ± 0.107	0.990	0.051	0.469	0.738
L- Spine	0.959 ± 0.115	0.838 ± 0.24	0.716 ± 0.258	0.808	0.0591	0.766	0.892
Total	0.918 ± 0.444	0.897 ± 0.11	0.812 ± 0.28	0.863	0.398	0.340	0.596
Z score	1.121 ± 0.577	0.927 ± 0.25	-1.875 ± 0.441	0.619	0.0421	0.431	0.493

¹Significance between groups;

²Significance total vs control. BMD: Bone mineral density (g/cm²). Suff: Sufficient; Insuff: Insufficient; Def: Deficient.