High proportion of hepatitis C virus genotypes 1 and 3 in a large cohort of patients from Southern Brazil.
Hepatitis C virus (HCV) isolates have been divided into six genotypes (1 to 6). The duration of hepatitis C standard treatment is 48 weeks for patients infected with HCV genotype 1 vs 24 weeks for those infected with genotypes 2 and 3. A total of 1544 HCV isolates from chronic patients living in the southern Brazilian states of Rio Grande do Sul (RS, n=627) and Santa Catarina (SC, n=917) were genotyped by restriction fragment length polymorphism (RFLP) of polymerase chain reaction (PCR) products. In RS, 338 (53.9%; 95% CI 50.0-57.8%), 34 (5.4%; 95% CI 3.8-7.4%) and, 255 (40.7%; 95% CI 36.9-44.6%) samples were from genotypes 1, 2, and 3, respectively. In SC, 468 (51%; 95% CI 47.8-54.2%), 26 (2.9%; 95% CI 1.9-4.1%) and, 423 (46.1%; 95% CI 42.9-49.3%) samples were from genotypes 1, 2, and 3, respectively. Genotyping results were confirmed by direct nucleotide sequencing of PCR products derived from 68 samples, without any discrepancy between PCR-RFLP and nucleotide sequencing methods. In conclusion, almost half of the hepatitis C patients from South of Brazil are infected by genotypes 2 and 3 and, these results have important consequential therapeutic implications as they can be treated for only 24 weeks, not 48.
Centro de Desenvolvimento Científico e Tecnológico do Estado do Rio Grande do Sul, Fundação Estadual de Produção e Pesquisa em Saúde, Secretaria de Saúde do Estado do Rio Grande do Sul, Porto Alegre, RS, 90610-000, Brazil. cmdornelles@terra.com.br
Cláudia Maria Dornelles da
CM
Silva
Cintia
C
Costi
Luciano Percival
LP
Krug
Ana Beatris
AB
Ramos
Tarciana
T
Grandi
Vitório Luiz
VL
Gandolfi
Maria Elizabeth
ME
Menezes
Maristela
M
Ocampos
Christian
C
Niel
Maria Lucia Rosa
ML
Rossetti
D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D001938:Brazil; D015331:Cohort Studies; D005260:Female; D005838:Genotype; D016174:Hepacivirus / Q000235:genetics*; D019698:Hepatitis C, Chronic / Q000821:virology*; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D016133:Polymerase Chain Reaction; D012150:Polymorphism, Restriction Fragment Length; D020641:Polymorphism, Single Nucleotide; D012367:RNA, Viral / Q000235:genetics; D012189:Retrospective Studies
D012367:RNA, Viral