Genotyping of hepatitis B virus isolates from Lahaul and Spiti district in Himachal Pradesh, India

Abstract

Hepatitis B virus (HBV) has several genotypes. In the Indian population, genotypes A and D are the most frequent. HBV infection is hyper-endemic in the Lahaul and Spiti district in Himachal Pradesh; however, the virus genotype in this area is not known. We sequenced a 398-nucleotide segment of HBV genome that included parts of pre-S1/S2 and polymerase genes from 17 specimens from this district, and assigned a viral genotype to these. Of the 17 specimens studied, 13 (76% [95% confidence interval = 50-92%]) showed the presence of genotype C HBV; the remaining four were genotype D (n = 4; 24%) HBV. Prevalence of genotype C HBV was much higher in the district than in other parts of India. This may reflect the historical mixing of this population with that in China. Since genotype C has a higher risk of chronicity and mother-to-child transmission, prevention of HBV infection may need particular emphasis in this area.

Hepatitis B genotyping: The utility for the clinicians

“…The HBV genotype landscape in India, with its multiethnic population, is likely to be diverse. Many reports from India have documented HBV genotypes in infected individuals in specific regions of the country [61][62][63][64][65][66][67][68][69][70][71][72]. In this context, a pan-Indian study on the regional variations in HBV genotypes in this issue of the Journal is laudable [73].…”

Identification of hepatitis B virus genotypes detected in Lahaul & Spiti district of Himachal Pradesh, India

“…We detected the CD1 recombinant sub-genotype in the Lahaul and Spiti region; however, Sharma et al 16 using pre-S1/S2 and polymerase genes reported a high prevalence of genotype C, followed by genotype D. Similarly, Khan et al 27 reported the dominance of HBV genotype D, followed by genotypes C and A in the adjoining Ladakh region. Lahaul and Spiti district is bordered by Tibet and previous studies have shown the dominance of HBV sub-genotype CD1 in the adjoining Tibet area and Western China, mainly in the Qinghai-Tibet plateau 9 , 28 .…”

“…Recently, we had conducted a community-based cross-sectional study in the scheduled districts of Lahaul and Spiti in Himachal Pradesh, India, and documented a high prevalence of HBV 15 . A genotyping study of HBV from the Spiti valley by Sharma et al 16 identified genotypes C and D in circulation in the population. However, there is limited information about HBV serotypes, genotypes and sub-genotypes circulating in Lahaul and Spiti valleys.…”

A Recent Prevalence of Hepatitis B Virus (HBV) Genotypes and Subtypes in Asia: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis

“…The included studies were conducted across the 48 countries representing the Asian continent. Based on the inclusion criteria, our study recovered 207 [ 4 , 9 , 12 , 13 , 14 , 15 , 16 , 17 , 18 , 19 , 20 , 21 , 22 , 23 , 24 , 25 , 26 , 27 , 28 , 29 , 30 , 31 , 32 , 33 , 34 , 35 , 36 , 37 , 38 , 39 , 40 , 41 , 42 , 43 , 44 , 45 , 46 , 47 , 48 , 49 , 50 , 51 , 52 , 53 , 54 , 55 , 56 , 57 , 58 , 59 , 60 , 61 ...…”