title: Hepatitis B virus subtypes and hepatitis C virus genotypes in patients with chronic liver disease in Nepal.
abstract: A total of 145 patients with chronic liver disease, including 20 with chronic hepatitis, 63 with cirrhosis and 62 with primary hepatocellular carcinoma from Nepal were tested for markers of hepatitis B virus or hepatitis C virus infection. HBsAg was detected in 57 (39%) and hepatitis C virus RNA in 12 (8%); the cause of liver disease was not known in the remaining 76 (52%). HBsAg was found in 5 (1.3%) of 379 normal controls, whereas hepatitis C virus-associated antibodies were detected in 13 (3.4%), none of whom was positive for serum hepatitis C virus RNA. Subtypes of 102 HBsAg samples, from patients and asymptomatic carriers, were adw in 35 (34%), adr in 4 (4%) and ayw in 48 (47%); the remaining 15 (15%) were of atypical subtypes such as ad, ay and a. Of 12 hepatitis C virus RNA samples, genotype I was detected in 1, genotype II in 5 and genotype V in 1; the remaining five samples were not to be classified by polymerase chain reaction with primers specific for genotypes I to V deduced from hepatitis C virus core sequences, despite high hepatitis C virus RNA titers in all of them. Sequences of 192 amino acids in the entire E1 region of unclassifiable hepatitis C virus isolates from five patients differed from each other in 17% to 23%, and varied from reported isolates of defined genotypes in 13% to 44%. These results indicate that atypical subtypes of hepatitis B virus and novel genotypes of hepatitis C virus would prevail in Nepal.
authors.affiliation: Liver Unit, Bir Hospital, Kathmandu, Nepal.
authors.forename: S M
authors.initials: SM
authors.lastname: Shrestha
authors.forename: F
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Tsuda
authors.forename: H
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Okamoto
authors.forename: H
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Tokita
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Horikita
authors.forename: T
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Tanaka
authors.forename: Y
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Miyakawa
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Mayumi
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000595:Amino Acid Sequence; D001483:Base Sequence; D006528:Carcinoma, Hepatocellular / Q000382:microbiology; D002908:Chronic Disease; D016384:Consensus Sequence; D005260:Female; D005838:Genotype; D016174:Hepacivirus / Q000145:classification* / Q000235:genetics; D006509:Hepatitis B / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000382:microbiology*; D006514:Hepatitis B Surface Antigens / Q000097:blood / Q000276:immunology; D006515:Hepatitis B virus / Q000145:classification* / Q000276:immunology; D006526:Hepatitis C / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000382:microbiology*; D006801:Humans; D007124:Immunoenzyme Techniques; D008103:Liver Cirrhosis / Q000382:microbiology; D008113:Liver Neoplasms / Q000382:microbiology; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D009390:Nepal / Q000453:epidemiology; D011247:Pregnancy; D012367:RNA, Viral / Q000097:blood / Q000737:chemistry; D012703:Serotyping; D014759:Viral Envelope Proteins / Q000737:chemistry / Q000235:genetics
chemical_list: D006514:Hepatitis B Surface Antigens; D012367:RNA, Viral; D014759:Viral Envelope Proteins