title: Molecular characterization of hepatitis A virus isolates from Goiânia, Gioás, Brazil.
abstract: Hepatitis A virus (HAV) infection is a public health problem worldwide and the virus has been classified into six genotypes. In Brazil, the only genotype that has been found is genotype I, predominately from subgenotype IA. Here, the HAV genotypes were analyzed of 18 isolates circulating between 1996-2001 in Goiânia, state of Goiás, Brazil. Viral RNA was extracted from 18 serum samples and amplified (RT-PCR/nested-PCR), followed by the genomic sequencing of the VP1/2A junction region of the HAV genome. Sequences of 168 nucleotides were compared and analyzed using the BLAST N, Clustal X and PAUP v. 4.10b programs. All samples were classified as genotype I, with 10 belonging to subgenotype IA and eight to subgenotype IB. The subgenotype IA isolates showed greater diversity than the subgenotype IB isolates at the nucleotide level. Elevated identity values were found between isolates obtained in this study and those from other regions of the world, including Brazil, highlighting the high conservation among different isolates of this virus. However, changes in the HAV subgenotype circulation could also be observed during the evaluated period.
authors.affiliation: Laboratório de Virologia, Instituto de Patologia Tropical e Saúde Pública, Instituto de Ciências Biológicas, Universidade Federal de Goiás, Goiânia, GO, Brasil. fabiola@iptsp.ufg.br
authors.forename: Fabíola Souza
authors.initials: FS
authors.lastname: Fiaccadori
authors.forename: Maristela
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Pereira
authors.forename: Alexandre Siqueira Guedes
authors.initials: AS
authors.lastname: Coelho
authors.forename: Ana Maria Tavares
authors.initials: AM
authors.lastname: Borges
authors.forename: Juliana Alves
authors.initials: JA
authors.lastname: Parente
authors.forename: Célia Maria de Almeida
authors.initials: CM
authors.lastname: Soares
authors.forename: Divina das Dôres de Paula
authors.initials: Dd
authors.lastname: Cardoso
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D001483:Base Sequence; D001938:Brazil; D002648:Child; D002675:Child, Preschool; D005260:Female; D006506:Hepatitis A / Q000821:virology*; D030041:Hepatitis A virus / Q000235:genetics* / Q000302:isolation & purification; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D010802:Phylogeny; D012367:RNA, Viral / Q000235:genetics*; D020133:Reverse Transcriptase Polymerase Chain Reaction; D055815:Young Adult
chemical_list: D012367:RNA, Viral