Background: We studied the effects of serum iron level, hepatic iron deposition and other metabolic disorders i.e., insulin resistance in hepatic fibrosis development. Materials and methods: Among 60 patients with chronic hepatitis C, we measured serum iron, ferritin and transferrin level. Meanwhile, hepatic biopsies were obtained from 43 patients for whom iron deposition, inflammatory necrosis/fibrosis score and steatosis were determined. Results: Hepatic iron deposition was significantly associated with waist circumference, ferritin level >200ng/ml, fasting C-peptide >1.9ng/ml, AST/ALT ratio >1, and fasting triglyceride >200mg/dl. On the other hand, it was not correlated with the following: grading, preportal-precital hepatitis (A), necrosis (b), focal lytic necrosis (C), focal apoptosis (C), and portal inflammation (D). Conclusion: Our findings suggested an interaction between hepatic iron deposition and waist circumference, ferritin, fasting C-peptide, AST/ALT, and fasting triglyceride.

Keywords: Hepatitis C, Serum iron index, Hepatic iron deposition, Hepatic necrosis/fibrosis.

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