title: Hepatitis B virus genotypes and G1896A precore mutation in 486 Spanish patients with acute and chronic HBV infection.
abstract: This study aims to determine the prevalence of hepatitis B virus (HBV) genotypes (A-F) and their association with the G1896A precore mutation in 486 patients positive for HBV surface antigen. Genotypes were determined by RFLP and precore mutation by real-time PCR. Genotypes D (48.1%) and A (39.5%) were the most common, followed by F (4.1%) and B, C and E (<1%). The A to D ratio (A:D) was 1.4 in HBeAg+ chronic hepatitis B (CHB), 0.6 in HBeAg- CHB and 1.4 in HBeAg- inactive carriers. Distribution of these genotypes was different between HBeAg+ CHB and HBeAg- CHB (P = 0.02), and between HBeAg- CHB and HBeAg- inactive carriers (P = 0.009). Genotype A was the most prevalent in HBeAg+ CHB with elevated alanine aminotransferase (ALT) (68.6%) and genotype D in HBeAg+ CHB with fluctuating ALT (60.7%). There was a difference in genotype prevalence between chronic and acute infection (P = 0.03). The precore mutant correlated with high levels of HBV-DNA in genotype d HBeAg- CHB. Genotype D is not as highly prevalent in Spanish patients as would be expected in a Mediterranean area. The unequal prevalence of genotypes between acute and chronic infection suggests that genotype A is associated with a higher tendency to cause chronic infection.
authors.affiliation: Department of Biochemistry, Hospital Universitario Vall d'Hebron, Barcelona, Spain.
authors.forename: F
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Rodriguez-Frias
authors.forename: R
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Jardi
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Buti
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Schaper
authors.forename: E
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Hermosilla
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Valdes
authors.forename: H
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Allende
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Martell
authors.forename: R
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Esteban
authors.forename: J
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Guardia
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000410:Alanine Transaminase / Q000097:blood; D015331:Cohort Studies; D004279:DNA, Viral / Q000737:chemistry / Q000235:genetics; D005260:Female; D005838:Genotype; D006513:Hepatitis B e Antigens / Q000097:blood*; D006515:Hepatitis B virus / Q000235:genetics* / Q000276:immunology; D019694:Hepatitis B, Chronic / Q000097:blood / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000473:pathology / Q000821:virology*; D006651:Histocytochemistry; D006801:Humans; D008103:Liver Cirrhosis / Q000473:pathology / Q000821:virology; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D015999:Multivariate Analysis; D016133:Polymerase Chain Reaction; D020641:Polymorphism, Single Nucleotide; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D013030:Spain / Q000453:epidemiology; D018709:Statistics, Nonparametric
chemical_list: D004279:DNA, Viral; D006513:Hepatitis B e Antigens; D000410:Alanine Transaminase