Vol. 7, Issue 1, Part A (2025)

Background: Psoriasis is a skin disease with a strong genetic basis, characterized by complex alterations in epidermal growth and differentiation multiple biochemical, immunologic, and vascular abnormalities, and a poorly understood relationship to nervous system function. A hypothesis about the relationship between psoriasis and the anti-Hepatitis C virus is observed. Hepatitis C infection is usually now identified in asymptomatic individuals screened because they have risk factors for infection such as previous injection drug use or they have incidentally been found to have abnormal liver function tests.
Objective: This study aims to determine the prevalence of anti-hepatitis C virus antibodies in psoriasis patients. 
Methodology: A cross-sectional study was conducted with 100 patients in the timeline from July 2022 to June 2023. The patient was investigated for anti-hepatitis C virus antibody by Enzyme-Linked Immunosorbent Assay (ELISA) to diagnose hepatitis C virus infection at the Virology Department. Results were analyzed prevalence of hepatitis C virus infection in patients with psoriasis after histopathology. Data was collected in the paper data sheet and analyzed on MS Excel and SPSS v. 20 software.
Results: The study observed that almost one-third (30.0%) of patients belonged to age 31-40 years, the mean age was found to be 39.1±14.6 years. More than three-fourths (77.0%) of patients were males and 23.0% were females. The male-female ratio was 3.3:1. The majority (85.0%) of psoriasis patients had plaque-type lesions followed by 10.0% with guttate, 1.0% with pustular and 4.0% other types of the lesion (Inverse and erythrodermic). The duration of psoriasis in the majority (56.0%) patients was found in years, 1.0% in weeks, and 43.0% in months. It was observed that only 15.0% of patients had a family history of psoriasis. It was observed that only 4.0% of patients had a history of jaundice, 2.0% of patients had a history of blood transfusion, 2.0% of patients had a history of I/V drug abuse, 26.0% of patients were smokers, and 2.0% had a history of taking others (alcohol/Gul). It was observed that 5(5.0%) patients had a history of sexual exposure and 95(95.0%) had no history of extramarital exposure. Finally, only 3.0% of populations were diagnosed with anti-HCV antibody positive found in psoriasis patients, and the remaining 97.0% of patients had no anti-HCV antibody. 
Conclusion: Prevalence of anti-HCV antibodies was found in only 3.0% of psoriasis patients in DNMC.