Abstract: Objective To observe insulin receptor (INSR) expression in patients with chronic hepatitis C virus(HCV) infection. Methods Twenty-seven patients with chronic hepatitis C were selected, and a liver biopsy was performed at the baseline. These patients were divided into 3 groups based on pathological classification(METAVIR fibrosis stage F0, n=8; F1-2, n=15; F3-4, n=4). Clinical routine biochemical parameters were examined. Liver tissue total RNAs were extracted and prepared with a commercial kit, then cDNAs were synthesized and real-time fluorescent quantitative PCR was used to analyze the expression of INSR of patients from the 3 different groups. Results Alanine transaminase(ALT), aspartate transaminase(AST) and bilirubin(BIL) had no change in the patients of the 3 groups, but fasting blood glucose(FBG), 2-hour postprandial blood glucose(PBG), glycohemoglobin increased, and cholinesterase(CHE), INSR expression decreased when METAVIR fibrosis stage rose. Compared with F0 group, INSR expression of F1-2 group was 78.8%, and that of F3-4 group was 30% of the value of F0 group. Conclusion Expression of INSR decreases, and the morbidity of type 2 diabetes mellitus increases with the advancing of METAVIR fibrosis stage in patients with chronic HCV infection.

Key words: hepaitis C virus, insulin receptor, diabetes mellitus