Prevalence of hepatitis B virus subgenotypes and basal core promoter, precore variants in patients with acute hepatitis B in central Vietnam.
OBJECTIVE
Hepatitis B virus (HBV) has been classified into 8 genotypes that have different geographic distributions. The clinical outcomes of acute hepatitis are dependent on genotype. The aim of this study was to investigate the distribution of HBV subgenotypes and basal core promoter (BCP)/precore (PC) regions in acute hepatitis patients in Central Vietnam to clarify the distributions and the clinical and virological differences.


METHODS
27 patients with acute hepatitis B were studied. HBV subgenotypes and BCP/PC variants were determined by direct sequencing of the preS, BCP/PC regions, respectively.


RESULTS
HBV subgenotypes B4/Ba (n = 22) and C1/Cs (n = 5) were detected. Of the 27 patients, 3 developed fulminant hepatic failure, and all were infected with B4/Ba. Three patients had a BCP mutation, and 10 patients had a PC mutation in subgenotype B4/Ba. Three patients with C1/Cs had a BCP mutation. Two of 3 patients who progressed to fulminant hepatic failure had T1762, A1764, and A1896 simultaneously. None of the patients with acute, self-limited hepatitis carried these triple mutations.


CONCLUSIONS
The prevalent HBV subgenotypes in patients with acute hepatitis B in Central Vietnam were B4/Ba and C1/Cs. BCP/PC variants have an association with the development of fulminant hepatic failure in subgenotype B4/Ba.
Department of Gastroenterology, Nagoya University Graduate School of Medicine, Nagoya, Japan.
Kazuhiko
K
Hayashi
Yoshiaki
Y
Katano
Tran Xuan
TX
Chuong
Yasushi
Y
Takeda
Masatoshi
M
Ishigami
Akihiro
A
Itoh
Yoshiki
Y
Hirooka
Isao
I
Nakano
Tran Van
TV
Huy
Nguyen Ngoc
NN
Minh
Tran thi Minh
Tt
Diem
Dong thi Hoai
Dt
An
Pham Hoang
PH
Phiet
Hidemi
H
Goto
D000208:Acute Disease; D000328:Adult; D001483:Base Sequence; D004279:DNA, Viral / Q000302:isolation & purification; D018450:Disease Progression; D005260:Female; D014644:Genetic Variation; D006509:Hepatitis B / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000503:physiopathology / Q000821:virology*; D006515:Hepatitis B virus / Q000235:genetics*; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D010802:Phylogeny; D015995:Prevalence; D011401:Promoter Regions, Genetic; D014744:Vietnam / Q000453:epidemiology
D004279:DNA, Viral