title: Distribution of hepatitis B virus genotypes and viral load levels in Brazilian chronically infected patients in São Paulo city.
abstract: The objective of the present study was to evaluate the serum viral load in chronically infected Hepatitis B virus (HBV) patients and to investigate the distribution of HBV genotypes in São Paulo city. Quantitative HBV-DNA assays and HBV genotyping have gained importance for predicting HBV disease progression, have been employed for assessing infectivity, for treatment monitoring and for detecting the emergence of drug resistance. Twenty-nine Brazilian patients with suspected chronic hepatitis B were studied, using real time PCR for viral load determination and direct DNA sequencing for the genotyping. The serology revealed chronic HBV infection in 22 samples. The HBV-DNA was positive in 68% samples (15/22). The phylogenetic analysis disclosed that eleven patients were infected with HBV genotype A, two with genotype F and two with genotype D. Thus, the genotype A was the most prevalent in our study.
authors.affiliation: Departamento de Dermatologia, Laboratório de Dermatologia e Imunodeficiências, Faculdade de Medicina, Universidade de São Paulo, São Paulo, SP, Brasil.
authors.forename: Rosana
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Alcalde
authors.forename: Fernando Lucas
authors.initials: FL
authors.lastname: Melo
authors.forename: Anna
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Nishiya
authors.forename: Suzete Cleusa
authors.initials: SC
authors.lastname: Ferreira
authors.forename: Mario Dante
authors.initials: MD
authors.lastname: Langhi Júnior
authors.forename: Simone Sena
authors.initials: SS
authors.lastname: Fernandes
authors.forename: Luis Augusto
authors.initials: LA
authors.lastname: Marcondes
authors.forename: Alberto José Silva
authors.initials: AJ
authors.lastname: Duarte
authors.forename: Jorge
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Casseb
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D001938:Brazil; D004279:DNA, Viral / Q000235:genetics*; D005260:Female; D005838:Genotype; D006515:Hepatitis B virus / Q000235:genetics* / Q000276:immunology; D019694:Hepatitis B, Chronic / Q000821:virology*; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D010802:Phylogeny; D019562:Viral Load
chemical_list: D004279:DNA, Viral