title: Characterization of the third most common genotype of hepatitis C virus in France.
abstract: We have previously identified the two major hepatitis C virus (HCV) genotypes prevalent in France (type I and type II). We report here the identification and partial characterization of a new HCV genotype with a highly divergent 5' noncoding (NC) region and a structural protein region. This genotype showed only 93-94% sequence identity with either type I or type II HCV in the 5' NC region. Sequence analysis of the structural protein region revealed extremely low sequence homology with all the four major HCV genotypes: 86-89% for the core protein and 56-69% for the envelope protein. However, further analysis revealed that this new genotype was very similar to the genotype 3a described most recently. Screening of 150 clinical samples with genotype-specific oligoprobes revealed prevalence of this genotype in 12% of the French samples with a significant association with drug addiction and a good response to interferon therapy. These results may have implications for the diagnosis of HCV infection and the design of HCV vaccines.
authors.affiliation: Unité de Recherche sur les Hépatites, INSERM U271, Lyon, Dieu Hospital, Lyon, France.
authors.forename: J S
authors.initials: JS
authors.lastname: Li
authors.forename: L
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Vitvitski
authors.forename: S P
authors.initials: SP
authors.lastname: Tong
authors.forename: S
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Mechai
authors.forename: P
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Berthillon
authors.forename: C
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Trépo
mesh_terms: D000595:Amino Acid Sequence; D001483:Base Sequence; D005602:France / Q000453:epidemiology; D014644:Genetic Variation; D005838:Genotype; D016174:Hepacivirus / Q000235:genetics*; D006526:Hepatitis C / Q000453:epidemiology; D006801:Humans; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D015995:Prevalence; D017386:Sequence Homology, Amino Acid; D012689:Sequence Homology, Nucleic Acid