Determination of hepatitis C virus genotypes among blood donors in Ahvaz, Iran

• Published in: Indian journal of medical microbiology Vol. 28; no. 1; pp. 54 - 56
• Main Authors: Farshadpour, F, Makvandi, M, Samarbafzadeh, A. R, Jalalifar, M. A
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: India Medknow Publications on behalf of Indian Association of Medical Microbiology 01-01-2010; Elsevier B.V; Elsevier Limited
• Subjects: Adult; Blood - virology; Blood Donors; Blood donors, genotyping, Hepatitis C virus, Restriction Fragment Length Polymorphism, RT-PCR; Enzyme-Linked Immunosorbent Assay - methods; Female; Genotype; genotyping; Hepacivirus - classification; Hepacivirus - genetics; Hepacivirus - isolation & purification; Hepatitis C - virology; Hepatitis C Antibodies - blood; Hepatitis C virus; Humans; Iran - epidemiology; Male; Middle Aged; Polymorphism, Restriction Fragment Length; Prevalence; Restriction Fragment Length Polymorphism; Reverse Transcriptase Polymerase Chain Reaction - methods; RNA, Viral - genetics; RNA, Viral - isolation & purification; RT-PCR; Young Adult; Iran; Restriction Fragment Length Polymorphism; Hepatitis C virus; RT-PCR; Blood donors; genotyping
• ISSN: 0255-0857; 1998-3646
• DOI: 10.4103/0255-0857.58731

This study aims to determine the genotypes of hepatitis C virus (HCV)
among blood donors at Ahvaz Blood Transfusion Centre. Blood samples
were taken from 2376 blood donors - 1795 (75.54%) male and 581(24.45%)
female - who referred to Ahvaz Blood Transfusion Centre during
2007-2008. Detection of anti-HCV antibody for all the donors was
carried out by ELISA and the confirmatory RIBA tests. HCV RT-PCR
followed by RFLP test was carried out for anti-HCV positive samples.
Out of 2376 blood donors, only 55 (2.3%) male donors showed to be
positive for HCV antibody by ELISA and RIBA tests out of which 45(1.8%)
donors were positive for RT-PCR test. Female donors were negative for
HCV antibody. The result of HCV genotyping by RFLP test showed 24
(53.3%) for 1a, 17 (37.7%) for 3a (a) and 4 (8.8%) for 3a (b) genotypes
respectively. In conclusion, high prevalence of 53.3% HCV 1a genotype
was observed among blood donors in Ahvaz city.