title: Distribution of genotypes and response to alpha-interferon in patients with hepatitis C virus infection in Germany.
abstract: To determine the distribution of hepatitis C virus (HCV) genotypes in German isolates, nucleotide sequences of the viral nonstructural 5 (NS5) genome domains were analyzed in isolates from 107 chronically HCV-infected patients. Of these 107 patients, 46 (43.0% were infected with subtype 1a and 47 (43.9%) with subtype 1b. Six patients (5.6%) with a history of intravenous drug abuse were infected with subtype 3a. Eight patients (7.5%) who had acquired their HCV infection in Egypt carried subtype 4a. Forty-three of the 107 patients were treated with alpha-interferon. Of these 43 patients, 16 (37.2%) were infected with subtype 1a and 27 patients (62.8%) with subtype 1b. Three patients infected with HCV-subtype 1a (18.7%) and four patients infected with subtype 1b (14.8%) showed a sustained complete response after interferon therapy. The HCV genotype 1 with its subtypes 1a and 1b was the most common source of HCV infection in this group of patients. There was no significant difference in response to alpha-interferon treatment of HCV infection with the subtypes 1a or 1b.
authors.affiliation: Institut für Medizinische Mikrobiologie und Immunologie, Universitäts-Krankenhaus Eppendorf, Hamburg, Germany.
authors.forename: H H
authors.initials: HH
authors.lastname: Feucht
authors.forename: B
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Zöllner
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Schröter
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Hoyer
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Sterneck
authors.forename: S
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Polywka
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000998:Antiviral Agents / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D001483:Base Sequence; D002648:Child; D002908:Chronic Disease; D017931:DNA Primers; D004279:DNA, Viral / Q000032:analysis*; D005260:Female; D005838:Genotype; D005858:Germany / Q000453:epidemiology; D016174:Hepacivirus / Q000145:classification / Q000235:genetics*; D006526:Hepatitis C / Q000188:drug therapy* / Q000453:epidemiology*; D006801:Humans; D016898:Interferon-alpha / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D016133:Polymerase Chain Reaction; D016896:Treatment Outcome
chemical_list: D000998:Antiviral Agents; D017931:DNA Primers; D004279:DNA, Viral; D016898:Interferon-alpha