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Chronic hepatitis C viral infection among SLE patients: the significance of coexistence

  • Novel Aspects in Lupus, 2017
  • Published:
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Abstract

The association between viral infection and autoimmune diseases is an established phenomenon in medicine. Hepatitis C viral infection is known to have such an association; however, its association with systemic lupus erythematosus has not been studied in a real life study driven from a large national database. The objective of this study was to investigate the association between SLE and chronic hepatitis C viral infection. Patients with SLE were compared with age- and sex-matched controls regarding the proportion chronic HCV infection. Chi-square and t tests were used for univariate analysis, and a logistic regression model was used for multivariate analysis. The study was performed utilizing the medical database of Clalit Health Services in Israel. There was a significant higher proportion of hepatitis C viral infection in SLE patients as compared to controls (1.06 and 0.39%, respectively; p < 0.001). A significant association was also observed among patients of higher socioeconomic status. In a multivariate logistic regression analysis, SLE was significantly associated with hepatitis C viral infection (OR = 2.07, 95% CI = 1.46–2.90). To conclude, Patients with SLE have a greater proportion of chronic HCV infection than matched controls.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Medicine ‘B’, Zabludowicz Center for Autoimmune Diseases, Sheba Medical Center, Tel-Hashomer, 5262100, Israel

    Naim Mahroum, Ashraf Hejly, Shmuel Tiosano, Omer Gendelman & Howard Amital

  2. Sackler Faculty of Medicine, Tel-Aviv University, Tel Aviv, Israel

    Naim Mahroum, Ashraf Hejly, Shmuel Tiosano, Omer Gendelman & Howard Amital

  3. Chief Physician’s Office, Clalit Health Services, Tel Aviv, Israel

    Doron Comaneshter & Arnon D. Cohen

  4. Siaal Research Center for Family Medicine and Primary Care, Faculty of Health Sciences, Ben-Gurion University of the Negev, Beer Sheva, Israel

    Arnon D. Cohen

Authors
  1. Naim Mahroum
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  2. Ashraf Hejly
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  3. Shmuel Tiosano
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  4. Omer Gendelman
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  5. Doron Comaneshter
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  6. Arnon D. Cohen
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  7. Howard Amital
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Howard Amital.

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The study was approved by the ethical committee of CHS, located at the Soroka Medical Center, Beer Sheva, Israel.

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Mahroum, N., Hejly, A., Tiosano, S. et al. Chronic hepatitis C viral infection among SLE patients: the significance of coexistence. Immunol Res 65, 477–481 (2017). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12026-016-8886-7

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s12026-016-8886-7

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