title: Distribution of hepatitis B virus genotypes in blood donors and chronically infected patients in a tertiary care hospital in southern India.
abstract: Hepatitis B virus (HBV) genotypes differ in their potential for causing disease. Consecutive patients with chronic HBV infection (CHBV) (n=122) and blood donors (n=67) positive for hepatitis B surface antigen and HBV DNA were genotyped using polymerase chain reaction-restriction fragment-length polymorphism. The ratio of male to female subjects was significantly higher in the blood donor group than in the group of patients with CHBV (P=.0004). Among patients with CHBV, genotype D was detected in 57.3%, genotype A was detected in 18%, and genotype C was detected in 11.5%. Only genotypes D and A were detected in blood donors. The difference between the detection rate of genotype C in patients with CHBV and in blood donors was significant (11.5% vs. 0%; P=.009). Patients with CHBV who had genotype C had higher alanine transaminase (ALT) levels than those who had genotype A (P=.044) or genotype D (P=.014). Detection of genotype C in patients with CHBV and the association of genotype C with higher ALT levels may predict that this genotype has a greater potential for causing disease than other genotypes.
authors.affiliation: Department of Clinical Virology, Christian Medical College, Vellore-632004, India.
authors.forename: Perumal
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Vivekanandan
authors.forename: Priya
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Abraham
authors.forename: Gopalan
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Sridharan
authors.forename: George
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Chandy
authors.forename: Dolly
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Daniel
authors.forename: Sukanya
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Raghuraman
authors.forename: Hubert Darius
authors.initials: HD
authors.lastname: Daniel
authors.forename: Thenmozhi
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Subramaniam
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D001782:Blood Donors; D004279:DNA, Viral / Q000032:analysis; D005260:Female; D005838:Genotype; D006514:Hepatitis B Surface Antigens / Q000032:analysis* / Q000276:immunology; D006515:Hepatitis B virus / Q000235:genetics*; D019694:Hepatitis B, Chronic / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000276:immunology / Q000821:virology*; D006801:Humans; D007194:India / Q000453:epidemiology; D008297:Male
chemical_list: D004279:DNA, Viral; D006514:Hepatitis B Surface Antigens