Hepatitis B virus genotypes and precore/core-promoter mutations in Tunisian patients with chronic hepatitis B virus infection

• Published in: The Journal of infection Vol. 54; no. 3; pp. 291 - 297
• Main Authors: Ayed, Khaled, Gorgi, Yousr, Ayed-Jendoubi, Saloua, Aouadi, Houda, Sfar, Imen, Najjar, Tawfik, Ben Abdallah, Taieb
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Kidlington Elsevier Ltd 01-03-2007; Elsevier
• Subjects: Adolescent; Adult; Aged; Aged, 80 and over; Alanine Transaminase - blood; Biological and medical sciences; Child; Chronic hepatitis; Core-promoter mutants; DNA, Viral - genetics; Female; Genotype; Hepatitis B e Antigens - blood; Hepatitis B virus; Hepatitis B virus - classification; Hepatitis B virus - genetics; Hepatitis B virus - isolation & purification; Hepatitis B virus genotypes; Hepatitis B, Chronic - virology; Human viral diseases; Humans; Infectious Disease; Infectious diseases; Male; Medical sciences; Middle Aged; Mutation - genetics; Polymerase Chain Reaction; Polymorphism, Restriction Fragment Length; Precore mutants; Promoter Regions, Genetic; Tunisia; Viral diseases; Viral hepatitis; Tunisia; Africa; Hepatitis B virus genotypes; Precore mutants; Hepatitis B virus; Chronic hepatitis; Core-promoter mutants; Human; Alanine; Typing; Orthohepadnavirus; Hepatic disease; Genotype; Infection; Virus; Viral hepatitis B; Polymerase chain reaction; Chronic; Microbiological investigation; Treatment; Hepadnaviridae; Aminoacid; Viral disease; Digestive diseases; Mutation; Molecular biology
• ISSN: 0163-4453; 1532-2742
• DOI: 10.1016/j.jinf.2006.05.013

Summary Objective The aim of this study was to determine the frequency of genotype and precore/core-promoter mutations in chronic hepatitis B virus (HBV) infected individuals in Tunisia. Methods We studied 164 Tunisian patients (38 HBeAg-positive and 126 HBeAg-negative) with chronic HBV infection. Genotypes and precore/core-promoter mutations were studied using Inno-LiPA and Multiplex-PCR and PCR–RFLP methodology. Results Alanine aminotransferase (ALT) levels were higher in HBeAg-positive compared with HBeAg-negative patients ( p < 0.05). Patients with HBeAg-positive chronic hepatitis B were younger than HBeAg-negative chronic hepatitis B patients. The 164 genotypes were distributed as follows: 1 genotype A (0.6%), 1 genotype B (0.6%), 3 genotype C (1.82%), 139 genotype D (84.75%), and 20 mixed genotypes (12.2%). In the precore region (41.5%) of the patients had exclusively PC mutant and (50.9%) had a mixture of wild-type and variant sequences. PC variant was more commonly found in HBeAg-negative patients than in HBeAg-positive patients (94.5% vs. 87.8%), respectively. The mutations in the core promoter were more common in HBeAg-negative patients (65.4%) than in HbeAg-positive patients (18.2%). These results indicate that genotype D is predominant in Tunisia. Precore mutation occurred invariably among HBeAg-positive and HBeAg-negative patients, whereas core-promoter mutations were more frequently found in HBeAg-negative patients. Conclusion Analysis of these mutants may prove useful for clinical evaluation and choice of therapy.