Molecular and serological characterization of hepatitis B virus genotype A and D infected blood donors in Poland

• Published in: Journal of viral hepatitis Vol. 17; no. 6; pp. 444 - 452
• Main Authors: Grabarczyk, P., Garmiri, P., Liszewski, G., Doucet, D., Sulkowska, E., Brojer, E., Allain, J.-P.
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Oxford, UK Blackwell Publishing Ltd 01-06-2010
• Subjects: Adolescent; Adult; Age; Aged; Amino acids; Blood Donors; Cluster Analysis; DNA; DNA, Viral - blood; DNA, Viral - chemistry; DNA, Viral - genetics; Female; Gene polymorphism; Genetic Variation; Genomes; Genotype; Genotypes; Geographical distribution; Hepatitis; hepatitis B; Hepatitis B - epidemiology; Hepatitis B - virology; Hepatitis B Antibodies - blood; hepatitis B e antigen; Hepatitis B e Antigens - blood; Hepatitis B surface antigen; Hepatitis B Surface Antigens - blood; Hepatitis B virus; Hepatitis B virus - classification; Hepatitis B virus - genetics; Hepatitis B virus - isolation & purification; hepatitis B virus surface antigene; Humans; Infection; Male; Middle Aged; Molecular Sequence Data; mutants; Mutation; Mutation, Missense; Phylogeny; Poland; Proteins; Sequence Analysis, DNA; Sequence Homology; surface antigens; Viral Load; Viral Proteins - genetics; Young Adult; Poland
• ISSN: 1352-0504; 1365-2893
• DOI: 10.1111/j.1365-2893.2009.01192.x

Hepatitis B virus (HBV) genotypes have distinct geographical distributions and influence severity of clinical outcome and response to antiviral therapies. HBV polymorphism in HBV surface antigen (HBsAg) positive first time blood donors from Poland was examined. HBV serological markers and HBV DNA were tested in 170 samples. Whole genome (n = 53) or specific region sequences: pre‐S/S and basic core promoter/precore (BCP/PC) region (91 and 154 samples, respectively) were phylogenetically analyzed. The median age of infected donors was 21 years. Anti‐HBs, anti‐HBe and hepatitis B e antigen were detected in 5%, 92.4% and 10.5% of tested donors, respectively. The HBV DNA load ranged between unquantifiable and 3.1 × 1010 IU/mL (median: 4.10 × 103 IU/mL). Genotypes A2 (81.2%) and D (18.8%) co‐circulated. Phylogenetic analyses revealed differences between the genotypes. Viral load and level of HBsAg tended to be lower in genotype D. The median HBsAg/HBV DNA ratio expressed in IU/mL was one for both genotypes, but very low or very high ratios appeared more frequent in genotype D infections. Higher amino acid variability in the surface proteins (median: 4%vs 1.5%; P = 0.01) and in the major hydrophilic region was observed in genotype D (P = 0.01). BCP/PC region analysis revealed the double mutation 1762T/1764A in 49/125 (39.2%) genotype A2 and 6/29 (20.7%) genotype D strains (P = 0.08). Mutations in PC and BCP regions correlated neither with HBsAg nor HBV DNA levels. HBV genotype A2 is dominant in HBsAg positive donors in Poland. Minority genotype D strains are significantly more substituted than genotype A2 strains potentially affecting the course of infection.