Effects of Viral Hepatitis on the WBC, Blood Platelet and CRP Levels in the Patients Who Undergo Hemodialysis

Background: Patients with end-stage renal disease are at a high risk of hepatitis B virus (HBV) and hepatitis C virus (HCV) infections. These patients are on maintenance hemodialysis where they are exposed to dialysis fluid and dialysis membrane that generate an acute-phase response, which leads to inflammation and this phenomenon is indicated by changing the levels of inflammatory markers like C-reactive protein (CRP). Dialysis can also affect the white blood cell and blood platelet levels. The purpose of the current study was to evaluate the effects of viral hepatitis on the WBC, blood platelet and CRP levels in the patients who undergo hemodialysis. Methods and Materials: During the course of this project, a cross-sectional study was conducted on patients who underwent hemodialysis and the corresponding data associated with their blood work was collected. All the patients who participated in this study were people who were accepted strictly upon referral from the Hemodialysis Departments of Mazandaran province of Iran. The participants of this study were then divided into two groups based on the presence or absence of the viral antigen. The data obtained from the patients in both groups was then further analyzed with the help of statistical software SPSS19 and the T-test. Results: 216 patients participated in this study11.11% were positive for the hepatitis antigen and 88.88% were negative for the hepatitis antigen. 110 participants (50.9%) were male and 106 patients (49.1%) were female and the patients’ averaged age was 62.24±13.71 and their average weight was 68.19±15.020kg. Upon the conclusion of this study, it was observed that the changes in the CRP levels (0.368P), the white blood cell levels (0.335P) and the blood platelet levels (0.827P) of the patients belonging to both groups over the duration of one year followed a similar pattern and showed no significant variations. Conclusions: The results obtained from the current study show that there are no significant differences in the fluctuations of the CRP, white blood cells and blood platelet levels in the patients with viral hepatitis type B and type C who underwent hemodialysis.