title: Hepatitis B virus genotyping: is the time ripe for routine clinical use?
abstract: Hepatitis B is one of the major causes of end-stage liver disease and liver cancer worldwide. A number of host and viral factors influence the disease course and outcomes. One such viral factor is hepatitis B virus (HBV) genotypes. There are eight major HBV genotypes described from various geographic regions of the world. Although direct sequencing appears to be the gold standard for HBV genotyping, it is expensive and laborintensive and therefore cannot be applied for routine clinical use. The newer molecular methods including serotyping have made genotyping easier and simple to apply to large number of samples rapidly. The data collected mainly over the last decade have suggested that HBV genotypes may have a bearing over the natural course of the disease and its response to therapy. This review summarizes the available literature and highlights how genotyping could be incorporated into routine clinical practice in order to improve delivery of care to HBV-infected individuals.
authors.affiliation: Medanta Institute of Digestive and Hepatobiliary Sciences, Medanta-The Medicity Hospital, Gurgaon, Haryana.
authors.forename: Kaushal
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Madan
authors.affiliation: Department of Gastroenterology and Hepatology, Sir Ganga Ram Hospital, New Delhi, India.
authors.forename: Pankaj
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Tyagi
keywords: CHB, chronic hepatitis B; CLD, chronic liver diseases; DNA, deoxyribonucleic acid; Diagnosis; ELISA, enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay; GC, guanine-cytosine; HAI, histological activity index; HBV, hepatitis B virus; HBsAg, hepatitis B surface antigen; HCC, hepatocellular carcinoma; IFN, interferon; LC, liver cirrhosis; PCR, polymerase chain reaction; RFLP, restriction fragment length polymorphism; SNP, single nucleotide polymorphism; SVR, sustained viral response; genotype; hepatitis B; natural history