Study of serum and seminal carnitine levels in Egyptian men with chronic hepatitis C

Abstract

Objective The aim of the study was to evaluate the serum and seminal carnitine levels in Egyptian men with chronic hepatitis C virus (HCV) infection. Background In 2015, HCV still affects a substantial proportion of the Egyptian population, in the 1–59 year age, 5.3 million persons are positive for HCV antibodies. Numerous studies have investigated the benefits of carnitine supplementation on improving the complications of viral hepatitis, like steatosis and hepatic encephalopathy. Patients and methods A cross-sectional study was conducted on 35 patients with HCV attending the hepatitis outpatient clinic, in Shebin El-Kom Teaching Hospital, Egypt. Moreover, 20 healthy individuals were also included as a control group. They were all subjected to history taking and serum and semen carnitine level examination. Results Results revealed an insignificant difference between patients with HCV and healthy individuals concerning age, residence, and serum urea level. However, a significant difference was found between the groups regarding serum glutamic pyruvic transaminase, serum glutamic oxaloacetic transaminase, creatinine level, prothrombin activity (%), and serum and semen carnitine levels. Moreover, a nonsignificant positive correlation (r = 0.331, P = 0.052) was founded between serum and semen carnitine levels in patients with HCV; in addition, a nonsignificant negative correlation (r = −0.364, P = 0.301) was found between serum and semen carnitine levels in the control group. Conclusion Results concluded that patients with HCV had significantly higher serum glutamic pyruvic transaminase, serum glutamic oxaloacetic transaminase, urea, and creatinine level. However, they had significantly lower prothrombin activity and serum and semen carnitine levels compared with the healthy group. Moreover, an insignificant correlation was detected between serum and semen carnitine levels for patients with HCV. So, many studies on various world population with this trend are warranted.