title: Distribution of hepatitis C virus genotypes in patients with chronic hepatitis C in northern Estonia.
abstract: Distribution of hepatitis C virus (HCV) genotypes among 30 patients with chronic liver diseases and antibodies to HCV (anti-HCV) was investigated. Sera of these patients were analyzed for HCV genotype by reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) and restriction fragment length polymorphism (RFLP) analysis of the 5'-non-coding region (5'-NCR) of the virus genome and for HCV serotype by detecting antibodies to HCV NS4 peptides by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA). The following distribution of genotypes was found: genotypes 1b in 32.0%, 3a in 20.0%, 2a in 12.0% and 1a/b (double infection) in 28.0%. The results of serotyping were interpretable in 92.0% and concordant with those of genotyping in 80.0% of the patients. In Northern Estonia, the genotypes 1b and 3a seem to be most common in chronically infected patients. Serotyping is an generally available and cheap assay and can be performed in most diagnostic laboratories in comparison to genotyping. However, genotyping is a more sensitive and more specific assay.
authors.affiliation: Department of Virology, Estonian Institute of Experimental and Clinical Medicine, Hiiu 42, 11619 Tallinn, Estonia. virologia@hot.ee
authors.forename: T
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Tallo
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Lappalainen
authors.forename: V
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Tefanova
authors.forename: I
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Priimägi
mesh_terms: D020121:5' Untranslated Regions / Q000032:analysis; D004957:Estonia / Q000453:epidemiology; D005838:Genotype; D016174:Hepacivirus / Q000145:classification / Q000235:genetics*; D018937:Hepatitis C Antibodies / Q000097:blood; D019698:Hepatitis C, Chronic / Q000097:blood / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000821:virology*; D006801:Humans; D012150:Polymorphism, Restriction Fragment Length; D020133:Reverse Transcriptase Polymerase Chain Reaction; D012703:Serotyping; D017361:Viral Nonstructural Proteins / Q000276:immunology
chemical_list: D020121:5' Untranslated Regions; D018937:Hepatitis C Antibodies; C093542:NS4 protein, hepatitis C virus; D017361:Viral Nonstructural Proteins