Table 3 Iron status and liver histology in patients with chronic hepatitis C and different genetic background*.
| Patients with any β‐globin gene mutations | Patients with any HFE gene mutations | Patients with wild‐type alleles† | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Number of patients‡ | 13 | 30 | 58 |
| Serum iron (μmol/l) | 26.8 (8.3) | 25.9 (9.3) | 23.1 (9.6) |
| Transferrin saturation (%) | 53.9 (25.0)§ | 41.1 (12.4) | 39.8 (17.6) |
| Serum ferritin (ng/ml) | 551 (777)¶ | 255 (215) | 304 (258) |
| HIC (μmol/g)** | 42.2 (68.5)§¶ | 19.1 (12.7) | 19.5 (14.8) |
| Hepatic iron grading (Searle's score) | 2 (0–4)††‡‡ | 0 (0–3) | 0 (0–3) |
| Histological grading (Ishak's score) | 4 (2–8)‡‡§§ | 3 (1–8) | 3 (1–8) |
| Histological staging (Ishak's score) | 3 (2–6)¶¶§§ | 2 (0–6) | 2 (0–6) |
HFE, haemachromatosis; HIC, hepatic iron concentration.
*Values are mean (SD). Values of hepatic iron grading, histological grading and staging are medians with ranges in brackets.
†The patients with the wild‐type alleles do not have any β‐globin or HFE mutations.
‡Total number of patients is 101 because one patient had both a β‐globin and an HFE gene mutation.
§p<0.05 versus patients with the wild‐type alleles (with Bonferroni's correction).
¶p<0.05 versus patients with any HFE gene mutations (with Bonferroni's correction).
**HIC was evaluated in 11 patients with β‐globin gene mutation, 30 patients with HFE gene mutation(s) and 56 patients with the wild‐type alleles.
††p<0.01 versus patients with the wild‐type alleles (Wilcoxon rank sum test).
‡‡p<0.01 versus patients with any HFE gene mutations (Wilcoxon rank sum test).
§§p<0.05 versus patients with the wild‐type alleles (Wilcoxon rank sum test).
¶¶p<0.05 versus patients with any HFE gene mutations (Wilcoxon rank sum test).