Distribution of hepatitis B virus genotypes among American blood donors determined with a PreS2 epitope enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay kit.
We genotyped 418 sera from volunteer blood donors from two large, regional blood centers in the United States who were HBsAg positive by an enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA). The HBV genotypes were determined by a serological method using a preS2 epitope ELISA kit (Institute of Immunology, Tokyo, Japan) with monoclonal antibodies. Of the 418 samples, the genotypes of 320 could be determined (76.6%). One hundred forty-three (34.2%) were genotyped as A (preS2 subtype su), 31 (7.4%) were genotyped as B (subtype m), 59 (14.1%) were genotyped as C (subtype ks), 83 (19.9%) were genotyped as D or E (subtype ksu), and 4 (1.0%) were genotyped as F (subtype k). This kit cannot differentiate genotypes D and E. For 98 (23.4%) of the 418 samples, the genotype could not be determined; 11 of these 98 samples were positive for at least one of the preS2 genotype-specific epitopes (m, k, s, and u), but the combinations of positive epitopes were different from those of samples that could be genotyped; 45 had only the common epitope (b). In the group with a high signal-to-cutoff (S/C) ratio, the HBV genotype could be determined for 199 (84%) of 237 samples; in contrast, in the low-S/C-ratio group, only 10 (20%) of 51 samples could be genotyped (P < 0.001). These findings may indicate the limitation of genotyping samples with low S/C ratios for HBsAg by ELISA or the existence of genotype G or other new HBV genotypes in HBsAg-positive blood donors in the United States. Of the genotyped samples, 201 were assayed for HBeAg; only 9 (4.5%) were positive for HBeAg. The frequency of genotype C in HBeAg-positive donor samples (5 of 9 or 56%) was higher than that in HBeAg-negative donor samples (33 of 192, or 17%) (P = 0.022).
Moriya
Takashi
T
Department of Hygiene, Hiroshima University Faculty of Medicine, Hiroshima 734-8551, Japan.
Kuramoto
Isamu K
IK
Yoshizawa
Hiroshi
H
Holland
Paul V
PV
D001782:Blood Donors; D004797:Enzyme-Linked Immunosorbent Assay; D000939:Epitopes; D005838:Genotype; D006514:Hepatitis B Surface Antigens / Q000032:analysis / Q000276:immunology*; D006513:Hepatitis B e Antigens / Q000032:analysis; D006515:Hepatitis B virus / Q000145:classification* / Q000235:genetics; D011498:Protein Precursors / Q000276:immunology*; D011933:Reagent Kits, Diagnostic
D000939:Epitopes; D006514:Hepatitis B Surface Antigens; D006513:Hepatitis B e Antigens; D011498:Protein Precursors; D011933:Reagent Kits, Diagnostic; C050807:presurface protein 2, hepatitis B surface antigen