Serum levels of cardiovascular biomarkers among chronic kidney disease patients with/without hepatitis C virus infection

This case-control study aimed to determine the effect of infection with hepatitis C virus as a risk factor associated with increased incidence of cardiovascular diseases among chronic kidney disease patients. In order to achieve this goal, a total of 180 Iraqi persons (107 males and 73 females; mean age was 51 years) attending both the Center of Renal Disease and Transplantation and the Gastrointestinal Tract Teaching Hospital at Baghdad Medical City Complex were enrolled in the current study. Of them, 130 patients (74 males and 56 females) were infected with the hepatitis C virus and the other 50 persons were controls (33 males and 17 females) clear of any viral existence. Serum specimens were collected from all the participants during the period from June 2022 to the end of August 2022, and data were collected via direct interviews with the participants by using a special questionnaire form. The enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay technique was used to detect the serum levels of the following cardiac dysfunction biomarkers: N-Terminal-pro-brain natriuretic peptide, Interleukin-6, and cardiac Troponin T among all the participants. Data analysis shows that the highest number of participants (55) was recorded in the sixth decade (age 50-59 years). The numbers of males and females were 38 and 17, respectively. Moreover, about 58%, 78%, and 97% of the total number of participants were found to be diabetic, hypertensive, and hypoalbuminemic, respectively. Regarding the cardiac dysfunction biomarkers, data analysis revealed that there were highly statistically significant differences in the mean levels of all the above-mentioned biomarkers in the patients' group in comparison to the control group (P≤0.001). The mean of interleukin-6 for the patients and controls were 44 pg/mL and 22 pg/mL, respectively. The mean of cardiac troponin T for the patients and controls were 3 pg/mL and 2 pg/mL, respectively and the mean of N-Terminal-pro-brain natriuretic peptide for the patients and controls were 88 pg/mL and 45 pg/mL, respectively. For the sex and age groups of the participants, two statistically significant differences were demonstrated. The first was between interleukin-6 and the sex of the patients with HCV infection. The mean of interleukin-6 in males was 35 pg/mL, while the mean was 42 pg/mL for the females (P=0.026). The second statistical difference was seen between the age of the patients and their hypertension status. The mean age of hypertensive patients was 53 years, while the mean age was 43 years for the non-hypertensive (P≤0.001). From the above findings, we can conclude that having an infection with the hepatitis C virus may increase the risk of cardiovascular diseases and related conditions among chronic kidney disease patients. The sex and age of the patients play an important predisposing factor.