AIM: Hepatitis C virus (HCV) is one of the most common causes of post-transfusion hepatitis in thalassemic patients. This study aimed to identify genotype distribution of HCV in patients with thalassemia in Iran due to the usefulness of HCV genotyping in viral transmission studies. METHODS: We used a genotyping system based on nested RT-PCR of the core region with genotype-specific PCR primers for the determination of HCV genotypes followed by sequencing. Serum samples of 350 thalassemic patients (163 female and 187 male) suffering from hepatitis were used to extract the HCV genome. The Amplicon HCV Monitor test version 2.0 was used for viral load determination. RESULTS: The frequencies of different genotypes were: 1a (20.5%), 1b (14.5%), 2a (12.5%), 2b (12.5%), 3a (24%), and 3b (16 %). Genotypes 1a and 3b were associated with a significantly (p < 0.001) higher viral load as compared to genotypes 1b and 2b. No statistical significance was observed for viral load among other HCV RNA genotypes. CONCLUSIONS: The present study highlighted that the genotypes 1a and 3a are the predominant genotypes in Iran among thalassemic patients however the genotype 3a showed to be slightly more prevalent than 1a.
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