title: Genetic variation of hepatitis C virus in a cohort of injection heroin users in Wuhan, China.
abstract: Since the majority of heroin abusers use injection as the primary route of admission, heroin abuse contributes significantly to the transmission of hepatitis C virus (HCV). We determined HCV infection and its genotype distribution among injection heroin users in Wuhan, the largest city in the central China. Eight hundred seventy-eight (84%) out of 1046 serum specimens from the injection drug users were positive for HCV antibody. Out of randomly selected 122 specimens positive for HCV antibody, seventy-eight (64%) had detectable HCV RNA with genotype 6a as the predominant strain (50%), followed by 3b (32.2%), 1a (8.1%), 1b (6.5%), and 3a (3.2%). HCV RNA levels in male heroin users were significantly higher (P=0.013) than those in the female subjects. Although there was no significant difference in HCV RNA levels among the specimens positive for HCV 6a and 1a/1b, the samples with 6a or 1a/1b contained higher levels of HCV RNA than the specimens positive for HCV 3b (P=0.019, P=0.012, respectively). These findings indicate that there is a high prevalence of HCV infection with genotypes 6a and 3b as predominated strains among injection heroin users in Wuhan, China.
authors: Wuhan Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Wuhan, PR China.
authors: Jin-Song
authors: JS
authors: Peng
authors: Xu
authors: X
authors: Wang
authors: Man-Qing
authors: MQ
authors: Liu
authors: Dun-Jin
authors: DJ
authors: Zhou
authors: Jie
authors: J
authors: Gong
authors: Han-Ming
authors: HM
authors: Xu
authors: Jian-Ping
authors: JP
authors: Chen
authors: Hong-Hao
authors: HH
authors: Zhu
authors: Wang
authors: W
authors: Zhou
authors: Wen-Zhe
authors: WZ
authors: Ho
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000367:Age Factors; D000914:Antibodies, Viral / Q000097:blood; D002681:China / Q000453:epidemiology; D015331:Cohort Studies; D005260:Female; D014644:Genetic Variation; D016174:Hepacivirus / Q000145:classification / Q000235:genetics* / Q000276:immunology / Q000302:isolation & purification; D006526:Hepatitis C / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000276:immunology / Q000821:virology*; D006556:Heroin Dependence / Q000821:virology*; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D010802:Phylogeny; D012737:Sex Factors; D014764:Viral Proteins / Q000235:genetics
chemical_list: D000914:Antibodies, Viral; D014764:Viral Proteins