Molecular epidemiology of Hepatitis B virus in Córdoba, Argentina

• Published in: Journal of clinical virology Vol. 61; no. 2; pp. 204 - 210
• Main Authors: Gallego, Fernando, Pisano, María Belén, Torres, Carolina, Caeiro, Luciana, Martínez Wassaf, Maribel, Balangero, Marcos, Campos, Rodolfo, Ré, Viviana
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Netherlands Elsevier B.V 01-10-2014
• Subjects: Adult; Allergy and Immunology; Argentina; Argentina - epidemiology; Cluster Analysis; DNA-Directed DNA Polymerase - genetics; Epidemiology; Female; Genetic Variation; Genotype; Genotypes; HBV; HBV/HIV co-infection; Hepatitis B Surface Antigens - genetics; Hepatitis B virus; Hepatitis B virus - classification; Hepatitis B virus - genetics; Hepatitis B virus - isolation & purification; Hepatitis B, Chronic - epidemiology; Hepatitis B, Chronic - virology; HIV Infections - complications; Human immunodeficiency virus; Humans; Infectious Disease; Male; Middle Aged; Molecular Epidemiology; Molecular Sequence Data; Mutants; Phylogeny; Promoter Regions, Genetic; Retrospective Studies; Sequence Analysis, DNA; Sequence Homology; Young Adult; Argentina; ORF; BCP-pC; hepatitis B virus; open reading frame; Epidemiology; IgM; basal core promoter-precore; deoxyribonucleic acid; MHR; HBV; polymerase chain reaction; Genotypes; sgt; Argentina; immunoglobulin M; HBV/HIV co-infection; hepatitis B surface antigen; HBeAg; HBc; HBsAg; subgenotype; gt; genotype; Mutants; hepatitis B core protein; HIV; DNA; human immunodeficiency virus; hepatitis B “e” antigen; PCR; major hydrophilic region
• ISSN: 1386-6532; 1873-5967
• DOI: 10.1016/j.jcv.2014.06.030

Abstract Background The analysis of the genomes of hepatitis B virus (HBV) identifies phylogenetic variants called genotypes, which may lead to distinct biological and clinical behaviors. Objectives The aim of this study was to describe the current molecular epidemiology and genetic diversity of HBV in Córdoba, Argentina. Study design A total of 52 HBV samples, 40 from HBV mono-infected and 12 from human immunodeficiency virus (HIV)-HBV co-infected patients, were sequenced in the S gene and in the basal core promoter-precore (BCP-pC) region. Results Presence of subgenotypes F1b (35%) and F4 (17.5%), subgenotype A2 (37.5%), C (5.0%) (subgenotype could not be defined) and D (5.0%) (subgenotype D2, and the other could not be defined) were observed among mono-infected patients. The co-infected individuals displayed a different genotype distribution: sub-genotype A2 was the most common (75.0%), followed by subgenotype F1b (25.0%). Conclusions These results showed two epidemiologic scenarios: the mono-infected population may represent the ethnic composition of the current human population of Córdoba, where the Amerindian (genotype F) and European origins (subgenotype A2) account for the 90% of the samples; for the co-infected patients, the high prevalence of subgenotype A2 resemble previous analyses from Buenos Aires. In addition, mutations in hepatitis B surface antigen (HBsAg), polymerase and BCP-pC regions were identified, mainly in chronic or co-infected patients.