Hepatitis C Virus Infection and Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease

Abstract

Background and Aims: A growing pile of evidence supports the notion that pulmonary involvement is one of the extrahepatic manifestations of chronic hepatitis C virus (HCV) infection. The objective of this study was to determine the prevalence of HCV infection in patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), and vice versa. Methods: Two cross-sectional studies were performed: 1. A prevalence study of HCV infection among patients with COPD; 2. A prevalence study of COPD among patients with chronic HCV infection. COPD was diagnosed according to ATS/ERS guidelines. The prevalence of HCV infection in COPD group was compared with the result of a previous study which determined the prevalence of HCV infection in general population. Prevalence of COPD in patients with chronic HCV infection was also compared to those with chronic hepatitis B virus (HBV) infection. Results: The study included 108 patients with COPD, 68 patients with chronic HCV infection, and 60 patients with chronic HBV infection. HCV infection was observed in 8.3% of patients with COPD, and 1.2% of the control subjects (P= 0.000). The prevalence of COPD among patients with chronic HCV and HBV infection was 17.6%, and 5%, respectively (P=0.03). Comparing COPD-positive and -negative chronic HCV patients for risk factors for COPD revealed that only the mean age was higher in COPD-positive patients (60.8±9.1 years vs. 46.5±11.5 years, P=0.000). In multivariate analysis, age was found to be the only independent predictor of COPD in HCV group. Conclusions: Patients with COPD have increased prevalence of HCV infection, and patients with HCV infection, have increased prevalence of COPD. COPD may be an extrahepatic disease associated with HCV infection.