Iron deposition in chronic viral hepatitis and relation to histological activitiy index Iron is an important nutrient for microbial growth. Recent studies have showed that iron deposition can impair the immune response . The aims of this study are to assess iron deposition and evaluate the correlation of Knodell's HAI system in liver biopsies in 55 patients with hepatitis B and C. Hepatic iron was assessed using Brissot 's grading system. Hepatic iron grades of 0, I, II, III and IV were present in 56.3 %, 23 , 6 %, 9 %, 9 % and 1.8 % of biopsy specimens, respectively. There was not significant difference between hepatic iron grades and B and C hepatitis in biopsy specimens ( p > 0.05). A weak correlation was found between hepatic iron grades and HAI in B hepatitis ( p < 0.05, r = 0.38 ). A significant correlation was not found between hepatic iron grades and HAI in C hepatitis ( p > 0.05, r = - 0.2 ). Altough we found a high content of iron in patients with chronic viral hepatitis B and C, there was no difference between these groups.