Iron overload and altered metabolism are the consequences of many disorders frequently observed in chronic liver diseases i.e., hepatitis B virus and hepatitis C virus. The present study, therefore, was aimed to evaluate the effect of HBV and HCV on iron metabolism. For this purpose blood samples of 25 patients with HCV and 25 patients with HBV were collected from Mayo hospital, Lahore, Pakistan along with 25 normal individuals. Serum was separated and processed for the estimation of markers of

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... iron metabolism via free iron, ferritin, total Iron binding capacity (TIBC) and unsaturated iron binding capacity (UIBC) by performing ELISA and flame atomic absorption spectroscopy. Ferritin levels were measured separately in male and female individuals. The outcome showed significant alteration in mean levels of free iron, TIBC and UIBC in case groups (HBV and HCV) as compared to control group while insignificant alteration was observed in mean levels of ferritin in serum of HCV and HBV male patients as compared to control group. It was concluded that the manifestation of HBV and HCV significantly altered basic parameters of iron metabolism; however, the level of alteration of ferritin depends upon the viral load of HCV and HBV resulting in significant or insignificant alteration in ferritin level.