title: Distribution and characteristics of hepatitis B virus genotype C subgenotypes in China.
abstract: Genetic diversity within the same hepatitis B virus (HBV) genotype indicates the presence of several subgenotypes. We have found that genotype C is the most common in China, and this study aimed to determine the geographical distribution and characteristics of HBV-C subgenotypes in the country. A cohort of 534 patients with chronic HBV genotype C infection, collected across China, was analysed by nucleotide sequencing or polymerase chain reaction-restriction fragment length polymorphism. HBV-C1/Cs (n = 112, 21%) and HBV-C2/Ce (n = 397, 74%) were the most common HBV-C subgenotypes and showed different geographical distribution in China. No significant differences were found between patients infected with HBV-C1 and HBV-C2 when comparing liver function tests, hepatitis B e antigen positive rate and clinical manifestations. We identified two other types of HBV-C provisionally designated as HBV-CD1 and HBV-CD2, which have particular virological features and clustered in one geographic area. These two types of C/D hybrids have emerged through recombination with genotype D and encode serotype ayw2 hepatitis B surface antigen. In conclusion, there are at least four subtypes of HBV genotype C: subgenotypes C1, C2 and two types of C/D recombinants CD1 and CD2 in China, which have a distinct geographic distribution. Whether HBV-C subgenotypes differ in their impact on liver disease progression requires prospective studies.
authors.affiliation: State Key Laboratory of Virology, College of Life Science, Wuhan University, Wuhan, China.
authors.forename: Z
authors.initials: Z
authors.lastname: Wang
authors.forename: J
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Hou
authors.forename: G
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Zeng
authors.forename: S
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Wen
authors.forename: Y
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Tanaka
authors.forename: J
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Cheng
authors.forename: F
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Kurbanov
authors.forename: L
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Wang
authors.forename: J
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Jiang
authors.forename: N V
authors.initials: NV
authors.lastname: Naoumov
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Mizokami
authors.forename: Y
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Qi
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000410:Alanine Transaminase / Q000097:blood; D002681:China / Q000453:epidemiology; D015331:Cohort Studies; D005260:Female; D016679:Genome, Viral; D016174:Hepacivirus / Q000145:classification / Q000235:genetics*; D019694:Hepatitis B, Chronic / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000473:pathology; D006801:Humans; D008103:Liver Cirrhosis / Q000473:pathology; D008297:Male; D017720:Molecular Epidemiology; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D010802:Phylogeny; D011995:Recombination, Genetic; D013045:Species Specificity
chemical_list: D000410:Alanine Transaminase