title: Hepatitis B virus (HBV) genotypes/subgenotypes in China: mutations in core promoter and precore/core and their clinical implications.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  The association of hepatitis B virus (HBV) genotypes with clinical course of infection is increasingly recognized.
  
  
  OBJECTIVE
  In order to investigate the genetic diversity of HBV and its clinical implications, 241 HBV-infected patients including 34 with hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) were enrolled in this study.
  
  
  METHODS
  HBV genotyping was performed with an ELISA assay. HBV subgenotypes were determined by PCR-RFLP. HBV core promoter/precore/core mutations were analyzed by direct sequencing.
  
  
  RESULTS
  The overall prevalence of HBV/B and C was 65% and 33%, respectively. Among HBV/C, 42% were Cs/C1 and 58% were Ce/C2. The HBV/C1 was only found in the patients originating from Southern China (p=0.0001). Among HCC patients, HBV/C2 was only found in the elder age group (> or =51 years; p<0.05) and HBV/Ba was associated with young HCC patients (<35 years). Mutations associated with HCC were V1753 and T1762/A1764 (p<0.01). The prevalence of the V1753 was higher in HBV/C1 strains (p<0.04), A1898 was only found among HBV/C1 (p=0.056). T1762/A1764 was frequently demonstrated in both subgenotypes. The T1858 (90%) and A1896 (40%) mutations were most frequent in HBV/C2 (p<0.008).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  HBV/C1 and HBV/C2 have distinct geographic distributions in China. V1753 in addition to T1762/A1764 double mutation in the basal core promoter region seems to be associated with HCC development, especially in the patients with HBV/C1.
authors: Shenzhen East Lake Hospital, Shenzhen, China.
authors: Jing
authors: J
authors: Yuan
authors: Boping
authors: B
authors: Zhou
authors: Yasuhito
authors: Y
authors: Tanaka
authors: Fuat
authors: F
authors: Kurbanov
authors: Etsuro
authors: E
authors: Orito
authors: Zuojiong
authors: Z
authors: Gong
authors: Liumei
authors: L
authors: Xu
authors: Jian
authors: J
authors: Lu
authors: Xiaoling
authors: X
authors: Jiang
authors: Weizhen
authors: W
authors: Lai
authors: Masashi
authors: M
authors: Mizokami
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D001483:Base Sequence; D006528:Carcinoma, Hepatocellular / Q000235:genetics / Q000276:immunology / Q000821:virology*; D002681:China; D004742:Enhancer Elements, Genetic; D005260:Female; D014644:Genetic Variation; D005838:Genotype; D006509:Hepatitis B / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000276:immunology / Q000503:physiopathology / Q000821:virology*; D006515:Hepatitis B virus / Q000235:genetics* / Q000276:immunology / Q000302:isolation & purification / Q000472:pathogenicity; D006801:Humans; D008113:Liver Neoplasms / Q000276:immunology / Q000821:virology; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D009154:Mutation; D016133:Polymerase Chain Reaction; D015995:Prevalence; D011401:Promoter Regions, Genetic; D014758:Viral Core Proteins / Q000235:genetics*
chemical_list: D014758:Viral Core Proteins