title: Evolution of hepatitis C virus quasispecies in children with chronic hepatitis C.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Hepatitis C virus (HCV) circulates as a mixture of different but closely related genomes: this quasispecies nature could be essential for virus persistence and could induce resistance to interferon therapy. Since little is known on the behavior of HCV quasispecies in children and adolescents with chronic hepatitis C, we analyzed the virus population in six untreated children during a 5-year follow-up.
  
  
  METHODS
  Six children aged 1-8 years, infected early in life with HCV, were included in the study. From each of them, 2 or 3 sequential serum samples obtained over a 5-year follow-up period were examined. The HCV quasispecies heterogeneity and diversity in the E2 hypervariable region-1 (HVR-1) were analyzed among samples by the heteroduplex mobility assay, and the distance between variants was estimated by the heteroduplex mobility ratio (HMR).
  
  
  RESULTS
  The HCV population was initially highly homogeneous in all six children. During follow-up, diversification of HVR-1 leading to a more complex viral population occurred in all cases, and was particularly evident in the three older children (HMR: 0.82-0.54). Changes in the HVR-1 sequence occurred without relation to the profile of ALT and HCV-RNA levels.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  HCV quasispecies diversification is a common event during chronic hepatitis C in childhood. Host and environmental pressure could be major determinants. The increasing viral heterogeneity could impair the response to antiviral therapy, thus indicating a rationale for early antiviral treatment in children with chronic hepatitis C.
authors.affiliation: Venetian Institute of Molecular Medicine (VIMM), Via Orus 2, 35129 Padova, Italy.
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Gerotto
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Resti
authors.forename: F
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Dal Pero
authors.forename: I
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Migliorato
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Alberti
authors.forename: F
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Bortolotti
mesh_terms: D002648:Child; D002675:Child, Preschool; D019143:Evolution, Molecular; D005260:Female; D014644:Genetic Variation; D016174:Hepacivirus / Q000145:classification* / Q000235:genetics*; D019698:Hepatitis C, Chronic / Q000821:virology*; D020180:Heteroduplex Analysis; D006801:Humans; D007223:Infant; D008297:Male; D016133:Polymerase Chain Reaction / Q000379:methods; D012367:RNA, Viral / Q000097:blood; D014764:Viral Proteins / Q000235:genetics
chemical_list: C400562:HVR1 protein, Hepatitis C virus; D012367:RNA, Viral; D014764:Viral Proteins