Novel genotypes of hepatitis C virus in Thailand.
We examined 24 C-type hepatitis specimens from Thailand and detected hepatitis C virus (HCV) RNA in all of them by RT-nested PCR for a portion of the HCV 5' non-coding (5' NC) region and a portion of the HCV core region. However, we failed to detect HCV RNA in 11 specimens by RT-nested PCR for a portion in the non-structural protein 5 (NS5) region that has been used commonly for HCV genotyping. We designed a new primer set for a separate portion of the NS5 region. Using this primer set, we succeeded in amplifying this portion in all 24 specimens. Two novel HCV genotypes, tentatively designated HCV-VII and HCV-VIII, were identified by sequencing these amplified regions. Our newly designed primers for RT-nested PCR may be useful for diagnosing infection as well as for genotyping unidentified HCV genomes.
Sugiyama
K
K
Virology Division, National Cancer Center Research Institute, Tokyo, Japan.
Kato
N
N
Nakazawa
T
T
Yonemura
Y
Y
Phornphutkul
K
K
Kunakorn
M
M
Petchclai
B
B
Shimotohno
K
K
D001483:Base Sequence; D017931:DNA Primers; D014644:Genetic Variation; D005838:Genotype; D016174:Hepacivirus / Q000235:genetics* / Q000302:isolation & purification; D006801:Humans; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D016133:Polymerase Chain Reaction; D012367:RNA, Viral / Q000032:analysis; D013785:Thailand; D017361:Viral Nonstructural Proteins / Q000235:genetics*; D012324:RNA-Dependent RNA Polymerase
D017931:DNA Primers; D012367:RNA, Viral; D017361:Viral Nonstructural Proteins; C087036:NS-5 protein, hepatitis C virus; D012324:RNA-Dependent RNA Polymerase