Typing hepatitis C virus by polymerase chain reaction with type-specific primers: application to clinical surveys and tracing infectious sources.
Based on variation in nucleotide sequence within restricted regions in the putative C (core) gene of hepatitis C virus (HCV), four groups of HCV have been postulated in a panel of 44 HCV isolates. They were provisionally designated types I, II, III and IV. A method for typing HCV was developed, depending on the amplification of a C gene sequence by polymerase chain reaction using a universal primer (sense) and a mixture of four type-specific primers (antisense). HCV types were determined by the size of the products specific to each of them. Type II was found in HCV samples from 131 (82%) of 159 blood donors, more often than in those from 48 (60%) of 80 patients with non-A, non-B (NANB) liver disease in Japan (P less than 0.01). In 11 haemophiliacs who had received imported coagulation factor concentrates, type I was found in five, as against type II in four. Double infection with two different HCV types was found in two patients with chronic NANB liver disease (types I and II; II and III) and two haemophiliacs (types I and II; I and III). HCV types were identical in mother and baby in each of two examples of perinatal transmission, and were also identical in donor and recipient in a case of accidental needle exposure.
Okamoto
H
H
Immunology Division, Jichi Medical School, Tochigi-Ken, Japan.
Sugiyama
Y
Y
Okada
S
S
Kurai
K
K
Akahane
Y
Y
Sugai
Y
Y
Tanaka
T
T
Sato
K
K
Tsuda
F
F
Miyakawa
Y
Y
D001483:Base Sequence; D001782:Blood Donors; D016373:DNA, Antisense; D004277:DNA, Single-Stranded / Q000235:genetics; D005260:Female; D014644:Genetic Variation; D006467:Hemophilia A; D016174:Hepacivirus / Q000145:classification* / Q000235:genetics; D006526:Hepatitis C / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000635:transmission; D006801:Humans; D008431:Maternal-Fetal Exchange; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D016133:Polymerase Chain Reaction / Q000379:methods*; D011247:Pregnancy; D014758:Viral Core Proteins / Q000235:genetics*
D016373:DNA, Antisense; D004277:DNA, Single-Stranded; D014758:Viral Core Proteins