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Table (1) Factors that contribute to malnutrition in chronic liver disease 20,21 .

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Background: Vitamin D deficiency has been proposed as a risk factor for diabetes mellitus type 2(DM type 2). Insulin receptor gene expression and insulin secretion are modulated by vitamin D, indicating their role in the pathogenesis and development of DM type 2. Furthermore, elevated PTH levels may play a role in the etiology of metabolic syndrome (MS), through an association with its individual components or via insulin resistance. Aim:This study aimed to investigate the role of vitamin D and parathyroid hormone in glycemic control of DM type 2. Materials and Methods: The study included 90 participants: 6o patients diagnosed as DM type 2 and 30 healthy age and sex-matched subjects as control. All studied subjects underwent full history taking and complete physical examination. Laboratory tests included fasting blood sugar (FBS), HbA1c, lipid profile, vitamin D and parathyroid hormone serum levels. Results: As regard 25(OH) vitamin D levels, 78.33% of patients were deficient or insufficient, compared to 20% of control subjects that were deficient or insufficient. 25(OH) vitamin D levels showed a significant negative correlation with age (p= 0.002), weight (p=0.0001), BMI (p=0.0001) , FBG (p=0.0001), HbA1C (p=0.0001) and TG (p=0.002). Along with a significant positive correlation with HDL-C (p= 0.0001). PTH levels showed a significant negative correlation with HDL-c (P= 0.0001), 25(OH) vitamin D (P=0.001), in addition to a significant positive correlation with weight (P=0.0001), BMI (P=0.0001), FBG (P=0.005) and HbA1c (P=0.0001). Conclusion: Not only vitamin D but also parathyroid hormone may play a role in glycemic control in patients with DM Type 2

Background: Polymorphisms in the cytokine gene involving IFN gamma (IFN-γ) have been implicated in many infections including HCV. The aim of this study is to evaluate the association between IFN-γ polymorphism in three regions, (+2109A/G, +874A/T, -183G/T) and either chronicity or spontaneous viral clearance (SCV) in HCV infected patients. Materials and Methods: The study included 200 HCV-infected patients divided into Group I of 100 patients with spontaneous virus clearance (SVC) and Group II of 100 patients with persistent chronic hepatitis C infection (PI) who did not receive any therapy. These patients were subjected to history taking, full clinical examination and laboratory investigations included analysis of IFN-γ gene polymorphisms. Results: At locus +2109 of the IFN-γ gene, patients with A/A genotype had a significantly higher rate of spontaneous hepatitis C clearance while the G/G genotype was more prone to persistent infection. No statistically significant difference was found between both groups regarding loci +874 and -183 of the IFN-γ gene, but column proportion comparison using Bonferroni method at locus +874 revealed a higher proportion for T/A genotype in SVC group. Both haplotypes AAT and TGT were more susceptible to chronic HCV infection, as were heterozygote T/A at locus +874 and G/G genotype at locus +2109s. A/G and A/A genotypes at locus +2109, TLC at cut off value ≤7.15, and AST at cut off value ≤27.5 were considered independent predictors for development of SVC. Conclusions: Polymorphisms in the IFN-γ gene may play role in sequelae following HCV infection, possibly determining whether the virus will be cleared spontaneously or not.Polymorphisms in cytokine genes, including interferon gamma (IFN-γ), have been implicated in numerous infections 17,18 , autoimmune diseases, and chronic inflammatory conditions 18,19 . Some polymorphisms reported in the regulatory and coding regions of IFN-γ gene include -183G/T,