Frequency of hepatitis C in patients with rheumatoid arthritis

Hepatitis C virus (HCV) infection has been explained as a disease that sometimes present with rheumatic manifestations indistinguishable from rheumatoid arthritis. This study has been performed to evaluate the frequency of hepatitis C virus infection in a group of patients with rheumatoid arthritis.Patients and In this study, during one year, serum samples collected from two hundred consecutive patients with rheumatoid arthritis in all affiliated hospitals of Shaheed Beheshti University, M.C., were examined for anti-HCV antibody and HCV-RNA by ELISA and RT-PCR method, respectively. Using a questionnaire, the frequency of HCVinfection, age and sex distribution, duration of rheumatoid arthritis, associated immune mediated disorders and risk factors for hepatitis C virus infection were assessed. A total of 200 patients (M/F=26/174) who were mainly aged 51-70 years were studied. The frequency of HCV was found to be 2% (95%CI: 0.6-7%). All of the infected persons have had a low risk occupation in terms of exposure to the virus and none of them had HCV risk factors. No associated immune mediated disorder was found in HCV infected patients. Our results did not support any contribution of HCV infection in the pathogenesis of rheumatoid arthritis.