Hepatitis C Virus Genotypes in Chronic Hepatitis C Patients and in First Time Blood Donors in Northeastern Bosnia and Herzegovina

Abstract

Prevalence of hepatitis C virus (HCV) genotypes in Bosnia and Herzegovina (B&H) is an issue that is not sufficiently researched and there is a need for studies that would explore this in detail.The aim of this study was to determine the distribution of HCV genotypes in the group of patients with chronic hepatitis C and also in the group of first time blood donors that tested positive for anti HCV antibodies during the blood screening process. Our secondary goal was to compare the proportions of HCV genotypes between these two groups.We analyzed 75 blood samples of patients with confirmed chronic hepatitis C. We also analyzed 13/16082 blood samples of first time blood donors found to be HCV positive during the blood screening process. We also determined HCV genotype in HCV RNA positive samples.We have found that genotype 1b was more prevalent in chronic hepatitis C patients (52/75; 69,3%) than in first time blood donors (6/13; 46,1%), however this difference was not statistically significant (c2=1,721; df=1; p=0,19). Genotype 1a was more prevalent in the group of first time blood donors (3/13; 23,1%) than in the group of chronic hepatitis C patients (3/75; 4%), but this was also with limited statistical significance (c2=3,71; df=1; p=0,054). We have not found any significant difference in prevalence of genotypes 1a (p=0,2) and genotypes 3 (p=0,70) when compared between chronic patients (3/75 and 16/75; respectively) and first time blood donors (3/13 and 4/13; respectively). Our study confirmed domination of genotype 1b in the region of northeastern B&H which is in accordance with HCV genotype prevalence in other countries in our part of Europe.

Prevalence of Hepatitis C virus genotypes in nine selected European countries: A systematic review

“…Analysis of the distribution of HCV genotypes in Albania is poor and only one article meet the search terms, especially for the limitation of the studied population, showing G1 as the predominant one with a rate of 56.0% followed by G2, 18.2%, by G4 with a rate of 14.2%, and by G3, 8.0%. Similar is the situation concerning Bosnia, where the only information about HCV genotypes distribution is available from a 2009 study concerning a group of chronic hepatitis C patients reporting the following distribution: G1: 73.3%, G2: 4.0%, G3: 21.3, and G4: 1.3% …”

Protein S-Glutathionylation in Malaria Parasites

“…In this case, protein thiols are oxidized to sulfenic acids, which can react with GSH (1,49). In addition, Sglutathionylation can be mediated by more reactive oxidized forms of glutathione, for example, S-nitrosoglutathione, or can be catalyzed enzymatically by glutaredoxin via a monothiolmechanism (33), as well as by glutathione S-transferase (47).…”

Prevalence of Chronic Hepatitis B and Hepatitis C among First Time Blood Donors in Northeast Bosnia and Herzegovina: An Estimate of Prevalence in General Population

“…Data on the epidemiology of hepatitis B and C in Bosnia and Herzegovina (B&H) are sparse. There are some reports of the prevalence of hepatitis B among smaller groups of first time blood donors and the prevalence of hepatitis C in special groups of patients [4][5][6][7]. However, there are no accurate data regarding the numbers of those who have been exposed and chronically infected in the general population in B&H.…”