Comparison of lipid parameters in acute viral Hepatitis and normal individuals

Introduction: The liver is a major organ of the body playing an important role in the maintenance of metabolic homeostasis especially lipid metabolism. As viral hepatitis is an inflammatory condition of the liver, it might interfere with the lipid and lipoprotein metabolism and cause a disturbance in their regulation in vivo and thereby cause change in normal levels of lipids and lipoproteins. Materials and Methods: It is a case control study was designed to carry out the work with a total of 30 cases of acute viral hepatitis and 30 healthy controls were taken belonging to the age group 19-35 years. A detailed history, clinical examination, liver function test, lipid profile, viral markers and other relevant laboratory investigations were done. Appropriate statistical methods were applied to analyze the results. Results: The study shows that there is a statistically significant increase in the triglycerides, LDL, VLDL and a decrease in HDL. The follow up analysis showed that serum bilirubin, SGOT, SGPT and triglycerides were decreased and total cholesterol and HDL were increased. Comparison of serum bilirubin with lipid parameters shows no correlation with total cholesterol and inverse correlation with TGL which is statistically insignificant. Comparison of SGOT and SGPT with lipid parameters shows inverse correlation with triglycerides which is statistically significant. Conclusion: From the study it can be concluded that acute viral hepatitis does affect the lipid profile and HDL levels might be used as a prognostic marker to assess severity of liver disease.