Serum Zinc and Haptoglobin in Noncirrhotic Azeri Patients with Chronic Active Hepatitis C: a Case–Control Study

The aim of present study was to compare levels of serum zinc and haptoglobin between patients with chronic active hepatitis C and controls. Two groups including Azeri patients with chronic active hepatitis C (n = 274) and their healthy family members (n = 100) were studied. Serum zinc and haptoglobin were measured using colorimetric and nephelometric methods, respectively. Patients were 156 males (56.9 %) and 118 females (43.1 %) with the mean age of 40.15 ± 12.24 years. Controls were 56 males (56 %) and 44 females (44 %) with the mean age of 39.32 ± 4.40 (p = 0.87 for sex and 0.51 for age). Both the mean levels of serum zinc (72.04 ± 19.08 vs. 106.18 ± 25.52 μg/dL) and haptoglobin (0.72 ± 0.45 vs. 1.08 ± 0.34 g/L) were significantly lower in patients than in controls (p