title: Prevalence of hepatitis C virus genotypes in Iranian patients: a systematic review and meta-analysis.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Hepatitis C virus (HCV) is a global public health problem and a major etiology of chronic liver disease, which may develop into cirrhosis and hepatocellular carcinoma. Genotypes of HCV indicate the route of acquisition, the clinical outcome, response to treatment, prognosis and control strategies.
  
  
  OBJECTIVE
  The aim of this study was to estimate the overall prevalence and trend of HCV genotypes or subtypes in Iran.
  
  
  METHODS
  A literature review was done for papers reporting HCV genotypes in Iranian patients in PubMed, Magiran, IranMedex, Scientific Information Databank, and Google scholar databases.
  
  
  METHODS
  Data were selected according to inclusion and exclusion criteria.
  
  
  METHODS
  Data were abstracted by two independent authors. Data were analyzed based on random-effects model using the Meta R. Pooled statistical software. Prevalence of HCV genotypes in cities and provinces of Iran with 95% confidence interval (CI) were calculated.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Fifty-three articles published between 1999 and 31 June 2014 including 22952 HCV infected individuals were included in the meta-analysis. Subtype 1a was predominant with a rate of 39% (95% CI: 34-44%); followed by subtype 3a, 32% (95% CI: 26-39%); subtype 1b, 13% (95% CI: 10-15%); genotype 4, 5.18% (95% CI: 3.27-7.5%); and genotype 2, 3.6% (95% CI: 1.6-8.3%). Untypeable HCV had a rate of 0.11% (95% CI: 0.07-0.16%).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  The most frequent subtypes of HCV in Iran were 1a, 3a and 1b, respectively. This frequency differed in various provinces of Iran and fluctuated with time. It is important to determine the distribution of HCV genotypes in different geographical areas and its trend with time for epidemiological and patients' management purposes.
authors: Department of Microbiology, Faculty of Medicine, Kurdistan University of Medical Sciences, Sanandaj, IR Iran ; Cellular and Molecular Research Center, Kurdistan University of Medical Sciences, Sanandaj, IR Iran.
authors: Mazaher
authors: M
authors: Khodabandehloo
authors: Social Determinants of Health Kurdistan Research Center, Kurdistan University of Medical Sciences, Sanandaj, IR Iran.
authors: Daem
authors: D
authors: Roshani
keywords: Genotypes; Hepatitis C virus; Iran; Molecular Epidemiology