title: Molecular characterization of HBV strains circulating among the treatment-naive HIV/HBV co-infected patients of eastern India.
abstract: Previously we reported that the exposure to hepatitis B virus (HBV) infection serves as a major threat among the treatment naive HIV infected population of eastern India. Hence, molecular characterization of these strains is of utmost importance in order to identify clinically significant HBV mutations. A total of 85 treatment naive HIV/HBV co-infected participants were included of whom the complete basal core promoter/precore region, the core and the whole envelope gene could be successfully sequenced for 59, 57 and 39 isolates respectively. Following phylogenetic analysis, it was found that HBV/D was the predominant genotype with HBV/D2 (38.5%) being the most prevalent subgenotype followed by HBV/A1. The major mutations affecting HBeAg expression includes the A1762T/G1764A (13.6%), G1896A (22%) and G1862T mutation (33.9%) which was predominantly associated with HBV/A1. Moreover, the prevalence of G1896A was considerably high among the HBeAg negative HIV/HBV co-infected subjects compared to HBV mono-infection. The main amino acid substitutions within the MHC class II restricted T-cell epitope of HBcAg includes the T12S (15.8%) and T67N (12.3%) mutation and the V27I (10.5%) mutation in the MHC class I restricted T-cell epitope. PreS1/S2 deletion was detected in 3 isolates with all harboring the BCP double mutation. Furthermore, the frequently occurring mutations in the major hydrophilic loop of the S gene include the T125M, A128V and M133I/L. Therefore, this study is the first from India to report useful information on the molecular heterogeneity of the HBV strains circulating among the treatment naive HIV/HBV co-infected population and is thus clinically relevant.
authors.affiliation: ICMR Virus Unit, Kolkata, ID & BG Hospital Campus, Kolkata, West Bengal, India.
authors.forename: Debraj
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Saha
authors.affiliation: ICMR Virus Unit, Kolkata, ID & BG Hospital Campus, Kolkata, West Bengal, India.
authors.forename: Ananya
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Pal
authors.affiliation: ICMR Virus Unit, Kolkata, ID & BG Hospital Campus, Kolkata, West Bengal, India.
authors.forename: Avik
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Biswas
authors.affiliation: Department of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine, Tulane University School of Medicine, New Orleans, Louisiana, United States of America.
authors.forename: Rajesh
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Panigrahi
authors.affiliation: ICMR Virus Unit, Kolkata, ID & BG Hospital Campus, Kolkata, West Bengal, India.
authors.forename: Neelakshi
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Sarkar
authors.affiliation: ICMR Virus Unit, Kolkata, ID & BG Hospital Campus, Kolkata, West Bengal, India.
authors.forename: Dipanwita
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Das
authors.affiliation: Calcutta School of Tropical Medicine, Kolkata, West Bengal, India.
authors.forename: Jayeeta
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Sarkar
authors.affiliation: Calcutta School of Tropical Medicine, Kolkata, West Bengal, India.
authors.forename: Subhasish Kamal
authors.initials: SK
authors.lastname: Guha
authors.affiliation: Calcutta School of Tropical Medicine, Kolkata, West Bengal, India.
authors.forename: Bibhuti
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Saha
authors.affiliation: National Institute of Cholera and Enteric Diseases, Kolkata, West Bengal, India.
authors.forename: Sekhar
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Chakrabarti
authors.affiliation: ICMR Virus Unit, Kolkata, ID & BG Hospital Campus, Kolkata, West Bengal, India.
authors.forename: Runu
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Chakravarty
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D060085:Coinfection; D005260:Female; D018740:Genetic Heterogeneity; D005838:Genotype; D006678:HIV; D015658:HIV Infections / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000276:immunology / Q000821:virology; D006512:Hepatitis B Core Antigens / Q000235:genetics / Q000276:immunology; D006513:Hepatitis B e Antigens / Q000235:genetics / Q000276:immunology; D006515:Hepatitis B virus / Q000145:classification / Q000235:genetics*; D019694:Hepatitis B, Chronic / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000276:immunology / Q000821:virology*; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D058889:Molecular Typing; D010802:Phylogeny; D011401:Promoter Regions, Genetic; D014758:Viral Core Proteins / Q000235:genetics*; D014759:Viral Envelope Proteins / Q000235:genetics*
chemical_list: D006512:Hepatitis B Core Antigens; D006513:Hepatitis B e Antigens; D014758:Viral Core Proteins; D014759:Viral Envelope Proteins