Table 1.

Demographic and biochemical characteristics of subjects included in the study

Variables	Studied Groups		P value
	Hepatitis C patients (n=87) Mean ± SD	Control (n=25) Mean ± SD
Age	40.62 ± 8.56	35.20 ± 7.35	0.05
Sex
Males %	52 (59.8%)	15 (60%)	0.3
Females %	35 (40.2%)	10 (40%)
ALT (U/L)	87.8±58.2	36±8.0	P=0.0001*
AST (U/L)	107±65.8	33.8±7.5	P=0.0001*
Total Bilirubin (mg/dl)	1.43±0.79	0.83±0.3	P=0.0001*
Direct Bilirubin (mg/dl)	0.46±0.28	0.19±0.08	P=0.0001*
Alkaline phosphatase (U/L)	123.5±53.4	48.7±8.6	P=0.0001*
Albumin (g/l)	3.29±0.45	3.93±0.53	P=0.0001*
Alfa fetoprotein (ng/ml)	14.2±8.3	4.7±1.8	P=0.0001*
Prothrombin time (seconds)	13.5±1.7	10.1±0.4	P=0.0001*
Osteopontin protein (ng/ml)	35.21±4.3	24.3±8.8	P=0.0001*

^*Indicate a statistical significant difference