Hepatitis B Virus Genotype Distribution among Chronic Hepatitis B Virus Carriers in Shanghai, China

Abstract

Objective: Hepatitis B virus (HBV) genotype distribution is still unclear in China, where a high prevalence of HBV infection exists, although it is well known that HBV can be classified into six genotypes based on intergroup divergence. The aim of this study was to investigate the epidemiological distribution of HBV genotypes and to clarify further the genotype-related differences in the pathogenicity of HBV. Methods: Seminested PCR and restriction fragment length polymorphism analysis were conducted in 97 asymptomatic HBV carriers (ASC) and 46 chronic hepatitis (CH), 37 liver cirrhosis (LC) and 44 hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) patients in Shanghai, China. Results: Two hundred and twenty samples (98.2%) were positive for HBV DNA, and of these, 3 (1.4%), 38 (17.2%) and 179 (81.4%) were classified as genotype A, B and C, respectively. There was a statistically significant difference in the distribution of genotypes B and C among various categories of liver diseases (p < 0.01). The distribution of genotype C showed an increasing trend from ASC, CH and LC to the HCC group; in contrast, the distribution of genotype B showed a decreasing trend in the same order. HBeAg positivity was higher in genotype C than in genotype B in all the subjects or in the ASC group alone (p < 0.05, p < 0.01, respectively). More severe liver damage and a higher mean age were observed in genotype C than in genotype B (p < 0.01, p < 0.05, respectively). Conclusions: These results indicate the following: (1) genotypes A, B and C of HBV exist in Shanghai, China; (2) genotype C is the major genotype in this area; (3) genotype C is associated with the development of severe liver diseases, and (4) genotype B has a relatively good prognosis.

Detection of hepatitis B virus genotypes using oligonucleotide chip among hepatitis B virus carriers in Eastern China

“…Genotype C is the major genotype in this area (accounting for 83.2%), which is similar with HBV genotype distribution in China in previous reports [7,[14][15][16] . Genotype B was more frequently found in patients with mild hepatic inflammation (ASC), while genotype C in those with advanced liver diseases (CH and LC) (P < 0.05) ( result may correlate with the higher frequent mutations in the BCP of genotype C compared with to genotype B [8] .…”

Role of viral factors in the natural course and therapy of chronic hepatitis B

“…These data thus suggested that certain genotype B strains might be associated with the development of HCC in young HBV carriers. Studies from Japan, Hong Kong, and China already confirmed the findings that HBV genotype C was associated with the development of HCC [49,50,54,55]. Recent data from the REVEAL-HBV study showed that the hazard ratio of cirrhosis after adjustment for age, gender, smoking, alcohol use, and HBV DNA level was 1.9 for genotype C compared to genotype B, suggesting genotype C was an independent risk factor for cirrhosis development in HBV carriers [56].…”

Genotype and variations in core promoter and pre-core regions are related to progression of disease in HBV-infected patients from Northern Vietnam

“…In contrast to the findings of the above studies in Vietnamese, a study by Song et al reported that genotype A was very commonly observed in HBV-infected Vietnamese patients (98.7%), that the pre-core mutation (G1896A) was not found, and dual core promoter mutations (A1762T/G1764A) were very rare in HCC patients (8%) and were not found in LC patients, CH patients or asymptomatic carriers (ASC) (33). The results reported by Song et al were very surprising, since the results of many other studies in East Asia and some in Vietnam, with only the exception of studies in the Philippines, showed that genotypes B and C were the major HBV genotypes in this region and mutations in the core promoter and pre-core regions were frequently found (8)(9)(10)(12)(13)(14)(15)(17)(18)(19)(20)(21)(22)(23)(24)(25)(26)(27)(28)(29)(30)(31)(34)(35)(36)(37)(38).…”