title: Serological assay and genotyping of hepatitis C virus in infected patients in zanjan province.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Hepatitis C Virus (HCV), a public health problem, is an enveloped, single-stranded RNA virus and a member of the Hepacivirus genus of the Flaviviridae family. Liver cancer, cirrhosis, and end-stage liver are the outcomes of chronic infection with HCV. HCV isolates show significant heterogeneity in genetics around the world. Therefore, determining HCV genotypes is a vital step in determining prognosis and planning therapeutic strategies.
  
  
  OBJECTIVE
  As distribution of HCV genotypes is different in various geographical regions and HCV genotyping of patients has not been investigated in Zanjan City, this study was designed for the first time, to determine HCV genotypes in the region and to promote the impact of the treatment.
  
  
  METHODS
  Serum samples of 136 patients were collected and analyzed for anti-HCV antibodies using ELISA (The enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay) method. Then, positive samples were exposed to RT-PCR, which was performed under standard condition. Afterwards, they investigated for genotyping using allele-specific PCR (AS-PCR), and HCV genotype 2.0 line probe assay (LiPA).
  
  
  RESULTS
  Samples indicated 216 bp bands on 2% agarose gel. Analyses of the results demonstrated that the most dominant subtype was 3a with frequency of 38.26% in Zanjan Province followed by subtypes of 1b, 1a, 2, and 4 with frequencies of 25.73%, 22.05%, 5.14%, and 4.41%, respectively. The frequency of unknown HCV genotypes was 4.41%.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  According to the results, it was found that HCV high prevalent genotype in Zanjan is subtype 3a. Analysis of the results provides identification of certain HCV genotypes, and these valuable findings could affect the type and duration of the treatment.
authors.affiliation: Department of Immunolory, Faculty of Medicine, Zanjan University of Medical Sciences, Zanjan, IR Iran ; Cancer Gene Therapy Research Center, Faculty of Medicine, Zanjan University of Medical Sciences, Zanjan, IR Iran.
authors.forename: Abdolreza
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Esmaeilzadeh
authors.affiliation: Young Researchers Club, Zanjan Branch, Islamic Azad University, Zanjan, IR Iran.
authors.forename: Maryam
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Erfanmanesh
authors.affiliation: Medical Laboratory, Shaheed Beheshti General Hospital, Zanjan University of Medical Sciences, Zanjan, IR Iran.
authors.forename: Sousan
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Ghasemi
authors.affiliation: Department of Immunolory, Faculty of Medicine, Zanjan University of Medical Sciences, Zanjan, IR Iran.
authors.forename: Farzaneh
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Mohammadi
keywords: AS-PCR; Anti-HCV Antibody; Genotype; Hepatitis C Virus; RT-PCR