title: Follow up of infection of chacma baboons with inoculum containing A and non-A genotypes of hepatitis B virus.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To determine whether one genotype (A or non-A genotypes of HBV) predominated over the other during the course of HBV infection.
  
  
  METHODS
  Four baboons were inoculated with HBV. DNA was extracted from serum obtained at monthly intervals post-inoculation for 52 weeks and HBV DNA was amplified using primers specific for the core region containing an insert characteristic of genotype A (nt 2 354-2 359, numbering from the EcoRI site). The amplicons were cloned into PCR-Script(TM) and a minimum of 15 clones per time point were sequenced in both directions.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Both genotypes persisted for the entire follow-up period of 52 weeks. Genotype non-A predominated in two baboons and genotype A in one baboon. Neither genotype predominated in the fourth baboon, as shown at a 5 % level of testing.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  No conclusions concerning the dominance of either genotype or the natural progression or replication rates of HBV could be drawn because the pattern of the genotypes found may have been caused by sampling fluctuations at the time of DNA extraction and cloning as a result of the very low viral loads in the baboon sera.
authors.affiliation: Department of Medicine, Witwatersrand University Medical School, 7 York Road, Parktown, 2193, Johannesburg, South Africa.
authors.forename: Marina
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Baptista
authors.forename: Anna
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Kramvis
authors.forename: Saffie
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Jammeh
authors.forename: Jocelyn
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Naicker
authors.forename: Jacqueline S
authors.initials: JS
authors.lastname: Galpin
authors.forename: Michael C
authors.initials: MC
authors.lastname: Kew
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D001483:Base Sequence; D017931:DNA Primers; D004279:DNA, Viral / Q000097:blood; D004195:Disease Models, Animal; D005838:Genotype; D006509:Hepatitis B / Q000097:blood / Q000635:transmission / Q000821:virology*; D006515:Hepatitis B virus / Q000145:classification / Q000235:genetics / Q000472:pathogenicity*; D010215:Papio; D016133:Polymerase Chain Reaction
chemical_list: D017931:DNA Primers; D004279:DNA, Viral